


The passing of time

by I_suck_at_naming



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: 2nd fic, Developing Relationship, Dwight and Claudette are friends, Dwight is obviously closeted because angst, First chapter contains surprisingly little David, Friendship Circles, I will edit this, Let's show kate some love guys, M/M, Mostly M/M but a little bit of F/F, Probably should mention that this is taking part in Britain, Secondary school AU, Some licensed characters will be used, Things are not as they seem, david and anyone is my ship, gradual character growth, hopefully a minimum though, its gonna be a struggle to fit Ace and Billy, not canon, potential interfering from the entity, series hopefully
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-05-19 17:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14878532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_suck_at_naming/pseuds/I_suck_at_naming
Summary: School, from Dwight's point of view, has never been easy. Yet old friends and new ones can make that change, for better or worse. With school, having a social life and navigating his own choices and emotions, Dwight's got his work cut out.





	1. Not so new beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm uh trying to see where I can take this cause I really wanted to add to the DBD works community for a while now. The content for the dbd community (IMO) has been coming out less and less in terms of written fanwork as interest in the game has plateaued. So I wanted to add something to keep anyone, even a single person, interested in the fanfiction possibilities of this game. Not all the characters are where they are from in the canon lore cause this takes place in Britain, so obviously they dont come from America, except Dwight's parents. (No hate, I just really wanted to write comfortably and my country's way of educating is much more well known to me.) I hope you enjoy this series I hope to continue and please don't hesistate to comment or ask questions or anything. I will definetly edit out any mistakes I've made if they're pointed out

Summer was over faster than Dwight had anticipated, clear from the notably chillier, but still pleasant breeze that swept his room. The windows in his room were always open at night, much to the gratification of hundreds of winged insects that made Dwight's curtains their next meal. Dwight stretched his tired arms and rubbed away the dust in his eyes. God, did he need a shower. No, two, then to rinse his mouth with the whole bottle of mouthwash and use the whole tube of toothpaste. Or maybe Dwight was exaggerating everything in his head and monologuing to no one. Yes, he thought, way more accurate. Dwight tended to overthink things in his head, creating solutions to situations that never happened. 

Dwight was from the Fairfield family, just him, his mother and his father. Dwight's parents were both American but Dwight has spent the last 14 of 17 years in Britain, so his mannerisms and tone were mostly British, bar the occasional slip in accent and his name. Dwight's dad worked as a nurse at Leri's memorial institute, a hospital that also had a noticeable research presence in the field of Electro-convulsive-treatment, something which it had been attacked for despite the board members explicitly addressing the stigma around ECT. It just wasn't something anyone seemed on board with, even if at times it was effective. Dwight's mother wasn't having an easy time finding work, but when a café offered her a spot, she picked up shift after shift to help pay for expenses in the house. Overall, Dwight wouldn't see his parents very much and in reality he didn't know much about what they did when they weren't working or before they got married. Everything started after Dwight was born, and even in the face of persistent questioning, he would get vague and unconvincing stories if he tried to suggest otherwise. By now, it was just another quirk in Dwight's life, so he didn't pay it much mind. 

The house was 2 floors, enough windows to make it homely, big enough to live in but not too big. It was a semi-detached house, and honestly, considering the jobs of Dwight's parents, he had no idea how they owned it. Maybe Dwight's grandparents sent some money. He didn't know or have enough desire to pursue the thought, so he didn't. His parents were working hard regardless, Dwight didn't think they needed him to remind them that it wasn't enough.

His mother was downstairs, already eating breakfast in an effort to be early to her job at a cafe in town. Dad might have not come back from the hospital last night, he worked such long hours that it was sometimes cheaper to just sleep at the hospital, rather than pay for the train commute. There were certainly many vacancies, though it never got easier for Dwight to think about it, how his father was working so hard. Either way, Dwight couldn't deliberate on things, pulling out a bowl, spoon, milk and cereal. His mother made an effort to make Dwight enthusiastic about starting school again. She said something about meeting new people or finishing my course. He smiled nervously at that, wondering why she'd even bother to say a thing like it. That seemed to be difficult for his mother to understand, that emotions took time to rid oneself of. Dwight couldn't just not be nervous because she told him not to be. Maybe she knew it was a worthless endeavour and did it anyway. Things a mother just does; Dwight supposes. Dwight pushed the cereal flakes under the milk and stirred so that the cereal was palatable. There's a deep meaning in that somewhere he thought with a small, humorless smile. Jeez, it was the first day of school and Dwight couldn't help but be morose. What did Claudette and Kate see in him? It felt like this mind set was going to just wind himself up. To avoid more needless worrying, he ate his cereal with forced alacrity and moved back to his bedroom. 

Dwight spent the next 30 minutes showering, brushing, dressing, gathering books and filling his bag for School. His last year at secondary school* was starting now, big exams and even bigger people to avoid. His school was not rough, but the teacher's tended to be sympathetic at best, lending an ear but having very little power to stop anything that happen in school, and even less outside of school. The Headmaster*, Mr MacMillan was a large and intimidating man, wearing a large suit and a watch to match. He acted as he pleased without the school board holding him back. He wasn't cruel or quick to punish unfairly, but being stood before him was usually cause for something quite serious. Dwight had never personally been called upon, but every act at school was done with that fate in mind. Not that he needed to worry, Dwight, while not being a model student, was no where near enough trouble to ever have to go to his office. 

The walk to school was familiar, and the sun and breeze combined to create a pleasureable atmosphere, and Dwight actually felt good, getting some air instead of languishing in his bedroom. The trees that he walked past were tall and showed no sign of leafing yet, allowing Dwight to take shelter under the lush thickness to avoid burning himself. That had happened a couple of times during summer when Dwight had been careless. The trees gradually began to taper out as Dwight entered the town centre, a small town called Brookstead. Brookstead was an average sized town, not especially anything except the history that surrounded the town, having been important to someone hundreds of years ago, or Dwight thought. He didn't really care all that much, but that's what Brookstead was known for. The pavement he walked on gradually smoothed out as he walked into the area before an antique clock tower. The clock tower was old but functioned enough to tell Dwight that registration would start in 20 minutes, enough time to walk around the corner of a street end, go to school, find his class, arrive before promptly acting as inconspicuous as possible. It would be nice if among all this he found Kate or Claudette. 

As he walked onto the school grounds, Dwight observed the regular ecosystem of his school and the food chains that made up the social hierarchy of the establishment and began to run over his imaginary analysis of the groups. The popular girls, no way Dwight could hang with them. They were as unapproachable as a basket of vipers. Hostesses and creators of Party life. Dwight had both wanted to go to such parties, but glad he didn't. He might get drunk and do something he regret or make a fool of himself. The jocks, who would no doubt make comments about anything and everything they could do, and if that didn't embarrass and deter Dwight, well, they could always shove him around, and then some. They weren't violent at heart, just very Laddish* and Dwight could find it hard to associate with the banter* revolving sport, girls, fit teachers and that sort of stuff. The solos, people who weren't actually alone all the time, but were off standish and had friends outside of school. The name of Feng Min, a short Asian pupil who would literally spew mandarin at someone's incompetence if it inhibited her progress, came to mind. It was as embarrassing as it was comedic, depending on where you were at the time of it. He and Feng had worked together and beneath the hard exterior she had shown a respectable person who could make friends, but chose not to. Dwight couldn't understand not wanting to make friends with someone if given the opportunity by just being cool. Next came the stock image students, people you could walk by and be none the wiser. Fodder for the drama of the Jocks and popular girls. Necessary pawns to fill the chess board that was the school. The ice cubes that fill your soft drink at a cheap restaurant, the white sheep to make the black stand out, the grass that grew around a tree. Dwight, needless to say, probably thought such things because he made a part of it, the students who weren't special, and who just wanted to get decent grades, to go to a decent university so they could live a decent life. God, Dwight was so dramatic in his head, if only he could express this creativity. He had tried to write in the past but fell flat, again, when it came to commitment and coming back to the page to write more. This was regardless of whether or not what he wrote was any good, and in Dwight's opinion, it wasn't. The students Dwight didn't hang out with were the ones he ignored and tried to be ignored by. Not because he hated people, he just hated introducing himself. Dwight had his own group of friends, some of the less popular but by no means unpopular, group. He took that as a small blessing. As he looked around the green space that made up the bottom of Brookstead college and found a familiar face in the few people who hadn't moved on to find their tutor rooms.*

Claudette Morel was a sympathetic and kindred person, someone who never judged and was slow to anger with people. She remained patient where others would snap. And for that, Dwight was beyond grateful, for sometimes he even managed to make himself frustrated with how he would complicate minor matters into big issues. Her mother was French but she'd live in Britain all her life. She had first met Dwight at Brookstead college during a French lesson where she politely told Dwight that she could help him. Dwight had been nervous of people, but even more nervous of saying no to someone. Ever since then, she use to help Dwight back when he took French as a subject, even if it hadn't stuck most of the time and her efforts were fruitless. But Claudette didn't give up on her friends so easy. This was the start of a long 6 year friendship and without Claudette, Dwight would have been lost.

He made his way over and called out to her, when she turned she had a wide smile and open arms. Typical Claudette he thought. He saw that she looked comfortable in her beret, a fashionable accessory, and her fitted shirt and practical trousers.* Claudette had a good wardrobe, but she toned it down when she was at school, not wanting to look "extra" as it were, even if Dwight thought he windbreaker was totally cool. 

"Dwight! So good to see you again. I couldn't wait for you to show up. I missed you a lot you know." She said with a genuine smile on her face. 

"Me too Claud." Dwight replied with an enthusiasm he never really had "I'm sorry, I should have made more effort to see you in the summer." Dwight hadn't avoided Claudette or it wasn't like he wasn't happy to see her, he was just... going through the motions. Dwight had spent the summer thinking a lot. About the future, himself, his family relationships... stuff. Dwight was still figuring it out.

But Claudette would have none of it "No, I won't hear it. I understand very well that you had stuff to sort out, things to do... a bed to sleep in." She winked at that last part and Dwight feigned appearing indigified "But honestly it's fine if you need to do some soul searching and stuff. Besides, Katie kept me company." 

Ah yes, Kate Denson. Kate was a free spirit, a person who felt things rather than seeing them. What she might have lacked accademically to some, she was gifted in art. Both music and acting were the talents bestowed on her like a divine gift. Kate was a considerate, family girl. The kind who doesn't have a terrible relationship with her family like a typical teenage girl. No, Kate didnt fill that stereotype, both her younger brother and sister looking up to her and parents whom she respected and who respected her. She had only joined last year, but she and Claudette hit it off instantly. Despite the differences in apparent interests, she and Claudette were really close after just a year. Kate could often be found with a guitar in her hands and she often wrote her own songs, mostly folk music, but she would never shy away from requests from Dwight or Claudette when they hung out in the park or at someone's house. 

"That's great to hear Claud, I'm glad someone was hanging out with you." Dwight commented happily. Thinking back, he thought what he said was condescending, but Claudette new of Dwight's implied meaning and didnt harry him for it. 

"Yeah, this Summer I realised a lot about Kate, some of the stuff she does in her free time. She's really amazing Dwight, I saw a production her drama* club put on and it was fantastic." As Claudette spoke about Kate her words begin to sound slightly more passionate. It was good to hear for Dwight, he really liked that he didn't hold Claudette back with his absence. "I bet we're all free this weekend right? We should go out for lunch on the weekend or something, just like before summer!." Claudette's demeanour briefly changed "I mean, I assume your free but gosh that was presumptuous of me, uh sorry." 

Dwight smiled at Claudette's positivity and her cuteness when she got a bit flustered. He couldn't help but be affected by the radiance flowing out of her. " Don't worry Claud, you know how it is. Sounds fun." He grinned to show his sincerity and some emotion "I should be free, but I'll send you a message at home to check with my parents." Dwight's parents wouldn't care at all. Not in a bad way, they were simply too busy to worry about where Dwight was all the time. As long as the bed was done and he washed the plates, he could go wherever. Dwight just hated committing to things, a big vulnerability of his personality. He wouldn't mind leading, he just didn't want the responsibility of things if they fell apart, even something so casual and chilled as going out for lunch on the weekends.

"Awesome." she winks and smiles, Dwight blushes a little at the gesture but Claudette laughs at his reaction. Once she contained herself she started shifting on the balls of her feet.

"Say Dwight, we should go to class now you think?" She was such a typical good girl. Claudette had to go to class early to make sure she wasn't late, which was fine by Dwight. He had no further business in the green space now that claudette was with him. 

"Sure, lead the way" He said, gesturing with his arms at the door to one of the language blocks*, where they would have their tutor room. His class of Ge1 was new since last year and a new teacher called Mr Ojomo would be their form tutor. Basically to call register, loosely enforce rules and just be general pushovers. 

The language block was no where near the size of the join science and maths block, but it was still large enough to contain 10 classrooms and two computer labs for research or online tasks like word processed essays. The rooms were divided into sectors of German, French, Spanish and overflow, divided so that each subject had enough classes at anyone point. Ov1, or overflow1 was used for when a surge in students had taken a subject by surprise, or used for after school lessons of languages outside the curriculum, including Italian, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin and others. Dwight had tried Russian out of pressure from his parents to "expand his horizons", but the dark eyed teacher called Miss Anna had intimidated himself so much he couldn't continue after a few lessons. He still saw her around school sometimes and Dwight didn't know women could grow so tall.

Regardless, they got into the language block and immediately the familiar scent of paint filled Dwight's nose. Over summer the school had clearly painted over the old stuff which had begun to lose colour*. Mr MacMillan would not accept his school to appear shoddy, which Dwight thought was commendable. Dwight saw notice boards filled with opportunities to take additional language clinics* if needed and where to find them. Dwight was glad he had moved on from languages. Except English, he didn't really understand conjugations and irregular verbs and the pronunciation always came as a challenge. So Dwight had never really invested time in learning a language.

Claudette entered and wound her way across the familiar rooms, since she had taken French along with biology and chemistry, so she had already navigated this block in its entirety last year. 

"Let's see here, class Ge1, here we go!" Claudette was glad to have found the room before registration and practically skipped into the room. Claudette was a sensible girl and could be serious when necessary, becoming the mum* of the situation when needed. But at times like this, she kind of just looked adorable to Dwight and it made him chuckle.

Pretending not to have heard Dwight, the duo walked in. Dwight took in the faces in the room. Kate was waving them over with one hand while the other adjusted the music she was listening to on her earphones. She had her legs up on the desk in a rebellious but totally playful manner. Kate hadn't changed much since last year, although he saw her curl her hair more at the ends. She was wearing her jeans and midday slip, very much summer and very much Kate. She had wanted to wear jorts, but the school had prohibited it as indecency. The midday slip was already pushing it, so Kate acquiesced. Dwight hadn't heard much from Kate over the summer, but they were still friends and had occasionally messaged one another, but not enough in Dwight's mind. He shouldn't push his few friends away so much and just talk to them about stuff. It could only serve to help him, no? Dwight was keen to ask her how her summer was, both out of politeness but also because Kate was genuinely interesting, she always had a story to tell and Dwight was always willing to listen. Only Dwight's enigmatic and completely manic Uncle Ace was capable of telling a story better. But as Dwight made his way over to the chairs and desks for him and Claudette, he passed his eyes over the rest of the class. It had been a cursory glance, completely innocent, but then suddenly they were caught on something. Someone.

A new kid.


	2. First contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwight has to try and balance a class with the new kid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that introductions and a little depth into the background is done, we can begin the story :)
> 
> Edit: The story very much still has to start properly. Sorry. At least Dwight says something to David, right? Mostly development though. Sorry again. Let me know if there are any mistakes or discrepancies in continuity and I promise to adjust them. :)

Dwight had spent the summer questioning the difficult and personal issue of his sexuality. It had taken him a lot of time to come round to the idea that he was gay, firstly because of his own fear that he was wrong, that maybe he was actually asexual? Or Bi? or something else entirely. But no, he wasn't attracted to women at all. He loved Claudette, and her actions could make him blush or feel slightly flustered when she made the rare crass joke. But the idea of kissing Claudette was just so... meh to Dwight, like he could do it, but it wouldn't be important to him at all. Did that make him Bisexual if he could do? Or was that still gay. So after Dwight's usual backwards and forwards thinking, he decided that he was gay. With all the internet, Tv, media and the social awareness, it felt like Dwight wasn't gay. He wasn't masculine, but not feminine either. He didn't have an interest in fashion or interior design, he just felt attracted to men. But the social idea of what being gay was just didn't align with how Dwight felt. Maybe the issue of gay stereotypes was a bigger issue than Dwight realised. His sexuality could also help explain his lack of male friends. He was afraid of the stigma attached to gay men having straight men as friends. Claudette and Kate were easier to talk to he felt. It could make him feel like he didn't belong to any community, lying between two societal extremes. So Dwight concluded that he'd just call himself Bi-curious, although deep down he knew he was just suppressing the truth. 

The truth came rushing like a flood in his mind as he set his eyes on the boy surrounded by some of the athletic kids and two of the popular girls. 

In that split second, Dwight analysed him head to toe. The boy's hair was almost entirely shaved on the sides of his head, while keeping longer, but still short hair on top and on his fringe*. He wondered how the school had allowed it, even if to Dwight it sent him pangs of embarrasing bodily reactions. The boys eyes from this distance were hard to make out, but definitely brown, perhaps a hazel shade and he had a sharper jaw line and chin than Dwight, something that Dwight was jealous of in particular for some reason. 

Dwight then noticed his broad shoulders and athletic stature, and Dwight assumed immediately he was part of the athletic group. It just seemed natural, his height and brawn and the way he sat indicated he was probably a rugby player, too big to play football and definitely not a tennis player. Around Brookstead, there wasn't much else in terms of sports except cricket when the temperature was warmer. He was wearing a pair of straight keks and a jacket over a shirt, but the clothing was clearly designer, indicating to Dwight that he was from a wealthy family. 

A second later Dwight reached the chair by Kate, having sat next to Claudette and consciously avoiding the urge to turn and have another look at the student sat a few desks away. Claudette noticed his blush and indicated, making a gesture as if to say "What's up?"

Dwight stumbling said "Uh, just nervous to be in school again."

"Aww I didn't know I had that effect on you Dwight." cooed Kate, teasing Dwight with a wink. 

"Yeah, you're a showstopper, Kate." responded Claudette in an attempt to save Dwight. The nickname 'Showstopper' was given to Kate after she managed to save a pub gig with a song after the previous entertainer had managed to garner a boo or hiss from every patron in the bar. They were ready to riot at the terrible performence but Kate had sated the crowd and earned a generous tip from the bartender, who at first asked her age, but then decided that Kate's age didn't matter as long as she could keep the crowd happy. Since then, Kate was always keen to perform, since it usually meant that she was allowed in the various pubs around Brookstead. The pubs weren't allowed to let her in, but if they could get some live music for a small price, they seemed to forget that small rule. 

"You know it, Claud, and judging by the heat in Dwight's face, he knows it too." Kate seemed intent on teasing Dwight about why he seemed so nervous. 

Oh if only Kate actually knew. 

"So Kate, how was your summer? Claud told me you two hung out a lot. "

"Yeah it was great, I took Claud to this pub, she hadn't been before, and you should have seen her, cheering and clapping. She was so adorable." 

Adorable? Dwight didn't expect such a description from Kate. Clearly Claudette, hadn't either, her face blushing slightly even if it was hard to tell. Dwight had gotten good at reading Claud's emotions. He just shared such a close bond at this point that it was inevitable. 

"Oh lighten up Claud, I can call you adorable." Kate giggled "Anyway, we went around, did own family holidays but we always got back to see movies and stuff, I even took Claud to the stable to meet my horse. She wasn't so confident at first..."

"Dwight, honestly, those things are huge. I'm way calmer around something that isn't breathing and whinnying all the time" Claudette interupted, feeling it necessary to defend herself to Dwight of all people.

Kate let Claudette retain some dignity "But she came around. Bill doesn't bite, even if he can be a bit grumpy."

Dwight liked this, the small talk. The chat that was just for fun. It made Dwight forget his nervousness, his sexuality... the really fit boy a step away. 

As Kate continued on, eventually a man whom Dwight hadn't seen before came in. He was tall and looked quite lean to Dwight. He had dark skin and hair that was brought out against brown eyes and the opal white that surrounded the iris. Dwight might have found him attractive if he wasnt in his mid thirties. Far too old for Dwight. Besides, he couldn't even look at the man that way with... 

God, Dwight didn't even know his name and it was all he could think about. What a mess. He pushed the new kid out of his mind.

"Good morning class" was spoken quietly but assertviely by the man. Even if he didn't raise his voice, everyone had enough sense to listen. "I'll be your new form tutor, Mr Ojomo. I hope you've all had a nice break and are settling in nicely, especially those of you who are new this year." 

Dwight's first of Mr Ojomo was that he was a calm person but since Mr MacMillan was running the school, none of the new teachers were ever pushovers, or he simply wouldn't hire them. So Dwight knew that regardless of how he might appear now, he'd see how he was in reality very soon. Or maybe Dwight was being cynical and creating drama again. He wondered if he was delusional sometimes with how often he seemed to fabricate reality to appear interesting to himself. 

"Right then, let's crack on and get the register done." Mr Ojomo cracked his kuckles as he said this, calling out the students. A few he recognised, like Jake Park, a half korean student who, like Feng Min, tended to stay alone. He didn't look to upset about it, remaining very impartial in any joint task or forced mixing of social groups by the school. Feng had also been called out and Dwight noticed her say yes to Mr Ojomo from the front corner of the class, a clever postion since she was so close to the teacher that few students would sit next to her, the back being the favourite place for the cooler kids. Mr Ojomo also called out Nea and Meg, two students who were renown for much of the graffiti in town. The duo were mischievious and excelled at evading the authorities, whether it be an angry shopkeeper or a traffic warden. Never serious offenders, but definitely trouble for teachers. 

But then Mr Ojomo called out a name.

David King.

And of course it belonged to the athletic and slightly intimidating boy which Dwight couldn't get out of his mind. 

Dwight recognised the surname from somewhere, the King family owned some manor at the northern end of Brookstead. They were a little famous outside of Brookstead, but in Brookstead itself, it was ever present. There was plenty of gossip that went around about what the King family did and their only son, David.

Dwight was so busy thinking that he had to get nudged by Claudette to remind him to answer Mr Ojomo's register. 

"I suppose we're still waking up Mr... Fairfield?" Mr Ojomo smiled after he said it, a gesture of innocence.

The sentence wasn't spoken with malice, more like an amusing statement, but all the same it drew attention to him.

David looked at him.

They crossed eyes, then fixed for an instant, before Dwight turned his head "Yes sir*, sorry sir." Dwight kept his eyes fixed on Mr Ojomo, even if it was hard, it wasn't harder than keeping contact with David. 

As Mr Ojomo moved on Dwight turned and saw David turn just as he turned to. Fuck, he had made himself vulnurable on the first day. What if David was a dick and decided to ask him about his stareing after registration. What if David told the others and they started talking about him. Dwight's anxiety couldn't let up on his mistake. The rational part of Dwight told him that, it all likelyhood, he would probably never speak to David, he didn't seem like he would be in any of Dwights classes. 

Dwight had picked Economics, Maths and Politics as his main subjects for A-level*, he had thought that they might be helpful to have a nice office job somewhere, or perhaps one day he would "grow a pair" and just go into politics. Dwight hadn't really looked into university's, so he wasn't thinking about whether or not his choices actually got him an entrance to any courses. 

Mr Ojomo closed the register, nodded off the students with a brief "have fun" and then he began flushing out the students to go to first period*. Kate and Claudette stood up with him and began to funnel out of the class. 

"Gosh, this year's so exciting!" Claudette beamed "I can't wait to get started again. Summer, is great, but the biology course is so interesting, I did so much studying before now to make sure I'd be ready for re-entry." 

Kate looked almost dissappointed in Claudette "All I do is learn music theory or put on productions for the school, pretty much stuff I'd do outside of school or in my drama club." Kate's talents really exceeded the capabilities of the school's capacity to prepare her for her exams. Although she was too modest about her talent to ever agree, Kate was a prodigy in Dwight's eyes, capable of playing piano and flute, but she really shone on the guitar and her voice. "I've got to go to drama now, see you guys at 5 past in the form room." 

"Bye Kate" said the pair together. Claudette had taken chemistry, biology and maths as her A-level choices. Claudette had a real passion for botany and a panache for finding medicinal plants in the most unexpected places. Her science test results were usually flawless and she only lacked scores in the creative subjects like art. Not that Claudette wasn't creative, she was just creative with tinctures and salves rather than paint and canvases. Her class was on the way to politics so the pair walked together until Claudette waved goodbye and flashed Dwight a smile before disappearing to biology. 

Dwight regretfully smiled back and kept walking, already feeling nervous that Claudette had left. It felt wrong to be so dependant though, Dwight shouldn't be so possessive, especially after how he had blocked her out of his life for the past few months. It just wouldn't be fair to Claudette, he thought. Maybe he should try and get some new friends, or at least a friend. 

Maybe.

As Dwight walked alone, the group of athletic students and popular groups walked ahead. Dwight had assumed they were heading to the Sport hall or the Arts department. But as they passed the math's block, one of them broke off to go inside while the others continued on. 

David.

Why did it have to be David. Dwight needed to be distracted. If he spent too much time around David he might act weirdly and make himself the object of embarassment for this year's class. There were two classes for his year group in the block at this time, he just had to hope David was going to the other class.  
Turn left to Po1.  
Turn left to Po1.  
Turn left, c'mon, just turn already.  
David didn't even hesitate before walking into class Po2, the door on the right.

Great, Dwight thought. Why would a kid like David even do politics? Dwight might have thought he was being presumptuous about David, which he was, but the town knew of David's talent for rugby, and how he'd likely play for the league. Apparently he did politics though, a very much surprisng choice of subject. Maybe he'd tell him one day why he picked such a seemingly irrelevant subject for his future.

Tell him? Dwight was getting way ahead of himself. Who said anything about actually talking to the guy?

Maybe he'd just be able to ignore him, after all, he was just another face in the class, It'd be easy for Dwight to blend him in if he just concentrated on the Politics.

That's what he told himself. 

Dwight walked in a few seconds after David and took the same seat that he had taken last year. It was a row of three desks at the back right corner and last year it had been Dwight and Jake and an empty chair. Jake was taking politics out of pressure from his family to grow up be someone important, Dwight had gathered that from their rare exchanges. Furthermore, Jake didn't really talk or distract Dwight unless they were doing a joint project or debate. Otherwise, Jake said nothing to Dwight and Dwight didn't think it'd be polite to break the silence.

So Dwight sat at the desk the in the middle, one chair from the wall, as is his usual spot and Jake sits next to him, leaving an empty spot in the seat next to Dwight, where in the past Dwight would dump his books on so he could spread his notes. Besides, the seat was both the closest to the radiator and window, so on a hot day he would end up sweaty and gross. Now though, it was an open desk on a day where seats were being decided, and Dwight really hoped that Jake's very visual boredom with everyone and everything and Dwight's own almost twitchy composure would weird any potential desk neighbour too much to sit next to them. 

It clearly didn't work as David made his way over, seeing an empty seat. 

Fuck. Of course David would see the empty chair. 

Why hadn't Dwight seen this coming? The universe had aligned in this way to torture him for some crime committed. As David was walking over Dwight got another look at him, this time standing up and making confident strides, closing the distance and putting Dwight in an awkward position as he scrambled to remove the books from the desk he assumed would be free. From all this, Jake just made a mild face of what could be annoyance or nonchalance. With Jake, it could be hard to tell. David either didn't notice this or didn't care.

David pulled back the chair and sat down casually, almost ignoring Dwight. Either not aware;or not caring. Dwight straigtened his eyes to the front of the class and despite how he felt, made sure to keep his small fidgets under control and general movement slow and as graceful as an bull in a tea shop could be. Before Dwight could fully calm himself down though, he heard something unusual.

"So, your David, right? King?" Jake spoke. "New to Brookstead college and already so well known. Must feel weird, hm?" Why was Jake actively making small talk. This seemed out of character, but Jake's words held a tone of feigned amusement and something patronising. 

"Nah, it's not. People recognise me anywhere 'round 'ere. S'no different." David's voice was something Dwight had just heard and for being so young, David sure sounded gruff, with a thick accent he recognised as Manc*. David's response was fairly guarded and didn't betray the fact that probably understood the sub meaning of Jake's words. "Why, d'you think I should feel outa place 'ere?" Nevermind, Dwight thought. David definitely changed tone very quickly.

"Guess not, just thought you might, you know? Can't be easy being a King" Jake smiled. Damn, this shit was way off what Jake had been like with Dwight. 

"You got something to say you little shit?" David replied shortly. Jake was by no means little, but next to David... "Cause I don't let nobheads like you get away with shit like this." For a guy taking politics, David certainly didn't play Jake's game of equivocation. 

Much to Dwights relief, the teacher entered the class right before it looked like things could escalate further. Dwight suddenly appreaciated and hated being a barrier against Jake and Dwight. David looked like he could get very physical very quickly, and Dwight got sick at the sight of blood, so he really didn't want to see hands flying. But now he had David, who looked very aggressive, right next to him. Dwight still hadn't said a word to him and right at that point, he was focusing as much as possible on the teacher. He had been here last year and wasn't very memorable, a Mr Myers. He could often be caught staring off into space and he didn't look like he socialised much, only talking to students or teachers over work or about politics. But Dwight couldn't doubt his abilities as a teacher. He was an excellent teacher, Incredibly capable and patient, calm to a point that almost unnerved Dwight. He focused on the topic of debate so far, the request to prepare a balanced argument for a topic of choice from the contemporary world. Mr Myers calmly said that partners should be picked as soon as possible to maximise time for preparation. Dwight felt a tug at his elbow which he was resting on, the motion making him jump. 

"Christ, mate" David said with hands put up in mock innocence. "Din't mean to scare you." 

Mr Myers had stopped writing notes on the board and was handing out a sheet with information on how to properly prepare for the upcoming debate, saying that it would be a paired effort, and that this debate would create a first impression for the new students. 

"I were wonderin' if you wanted to pair up, yeah? You look like you know what your doin." David elaborated. 

Dwight for a moment was too anxious to answer immediatly, before Jake cut in. "Actually, David," Jake spoke with a condescending manner. "I think Dwight was just about to join me on this. I'm sure you got plenty of friends who do politics, right? You can work with them." Dwight broke a sweat at that. Dwight had distinctly noticed an increase in new students in his class, David and a three more, of which David didn't seem to know. Dwight was almost certain that David had sat next to him because if David couldn't sit next to mates to bant with, the next best thing would be so keen kid he could copy. 

"I swear to God, I'll clock your nose so fast when we get out of-" David was cut off by the breathing of Mr Myers, who stood tall over the trio. His glassy blue eyes swept the three and locked on David.

"Mr King," He began slowly "What is the issue here." 

"Nothin' sir, just a friendly discussion." David quickly retook a more confident air as he returned from the initial shock. Dwight was still frozen, having been stuck between the two bickering teens and now under Mr Myer's scrutiny. 

"Good, so I can leave you to find a partner, peacefully?" Mr Myers responded, having definitely heard David's threat. 

"Of course sir," David looked over Dwight for a second, as if trying to think. Probably trying to remember Dwight's prayer from what Jake had said. "Dwight here's gonna be my partner." David didn't say it with fear or panic, but a definite necessity to act quickly. His decision had been a split moment long and necessary, Dwight thought. Even if it still felt annoying to be pulled in to his mess with Jake.

Myer's eyes turned to Dwight methodically, not even acknowledging Jake anymore. Now it was just Dwight and David. "Is that so, Mr Fairfield?" 

Aware of the eyes around the class now looking at the spectacle in silence, Dwight felt himself blush and then thought of what David might do if he stuck him up in front of the whole class on the first day. But then he might look like a bitch if he just gave in. Shit.

"Mr Fairfield, I don't like to repeat myself when I know you understood me." Myer's voice had an edge, sharp and so thin it was almost impercebtable, like a shimmering blade. 

"Of course sir, yes sir, David and I are working together." Dwight had his eyes glued to the table as soon as the words fell from his mouth. He risked a quick glance up. 

"Good, see how civilized we can be, children?" Mr Myers words should have been spoken humorously, but they came out creepy. He was obviously joking, but he didn't have the character to pull it off funnily. "Now, make notes." The command was short and he strode back to his desk, sorting out papers on his desk and busying himself. 

Dwight released the breath he had been holding in. Jake smiled at the situation, having gotten off lightly. "Well, Dwight, guess I'll just have to find someone else. No hard feelings though." Somehow, Dwight believed him. Jake didn't look like he actually care. Dwight realised that his whole fighting over Dwight might have been intentional to bait David into doing something stupid. Dwight felt used like a tool. 

"Well mate, you heard the bastard." David grinned "Let's get on, yeah?" 

Dwight realised he still hadn't said a word to David yet. Through that whole encounter, he didn't even tell David he agreed, he told Myers, which he guessed were the same thing in the end. 

So Dwight ended up just responding with "yeah." What else could he say?

"Class*" David replied before he started scrawling on the page. 

Dwight stared a moment before he himself started writing what was on the board and adding to the handout given before Mr Myers had come around. 

The lesson went past quickly as the students made more notes and Mr Myers calmly explained or answered any rare questions. As the clock came around to 11 o'clock, Mr Myers stood to gesture the door and he instructed the class to leave. Most hadn't even stayed to listen and were out the door, but just before Dwight left, Mr Myers called out "Mr Fairfield, a brief word please." Dwight cringed briefly and turned around.

"Yes sir?"

"I just wanted you to know that Mr King doesn't have to be your partner for this assignment." He kept constant eye contact that Dwight internally squirmed under "I realise that, as one of the quieter students, I may have put you on the spot, for which I apologise. But if you would rather work with Mr Park, I fully understand your decision and I see why you might fear working with David." Jesus, Mr Myers was totally shameless. Dwight wasn't afraid of David, he told himself.

"Thank you for the offer Sir," Dwight began slowly. Mr Myers still held eye conact and wasn't moving apart from the rise and fall of his chest. "But I'll stick with David, it's really not a big deal." Dwight tried to smile after that, but it came out looking slightly pathetic.

"Unexpected, but completely acceptable." It sounded almost mechanical "I look forward to your joint efforts due Monday."

With that, Dwight was dismissed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for inconsistencies if they exist, I'm trying to get a cohesive story going and its taking time to generate. Also I immediately noticed a lack of characters since characters like doctor, nurse and hag have already pre-determined roles and so I'm gonna need to add some licensed characters in. I didn't want to do it, but I also didn't want to bring in OCs cause I don't know how they'd turn out. So yeah, sorry if tags change as I write
> 
> 1Fringe=bangs (the hair covering your forehead)  
> 2A-level=the qualification you do before going to university.  
> 3Manc= Mancherster accent, not a compliment usually.  
> 4 Class=awesome, great ("that's great" kind of context)


	3. Blush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David and Dwight have to work together for this project. Strictly school work though... right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm done with this chapter finally, but I'm going hiking for a few days so chapter 4 will be a while. Sorry about that ):

Dwight quickly left the class with a sigh. Dwight had dealt with enough Myers for today. Right now he would be making his way back to the form room to meet up with Kate and Claudette and talk about small things and stay busy till their next lessons would start and they would disperse until lunch. Dwight would be doing that, if David hadn't been waiting for Dwight outside the class.

"You alright?" He asked with a smirk "D'bastard want something?" Dwight had to assume that the 'bastard' was Mr Myers. Dwight was now fully alert, more so than when he was talking to Mr Myers. Shit, Dwight, think of something to say. Sound casual, don't freak him out.

"Yeah, something like that." Dwight managed to say with a barely convincing amount of steadiness 

"Were 'e tryna get you to work with that prick Jake? I know we 'aven't even spoken proper yet, but you seem to know what your doin' so how bout you work wiv me on this, and I'll make sure no one messes with you. Fair deal, yeah?" David finishes the sentence with a motion of grandeur, as if presenting some grand enterprise.

Dwight was listening to a protection racket if he'd ever heard one. Besides, Dwight got along just fine, no protection needed. Sure, he sometimes felt a little excluded and out of the inner circle, but really, he was fine. But Dwight took another look at David before saying any of this. David was way taller than Dwight, despite Dwight being fairly average in height, and David looked like he could pick him up easily. 

"Honestly, David, uhh, it's fine. I can work with you just cause, you know? I uhh, like a challenge," total lie told from Dwight. He found challenges too... Challenging to enjoy. "Uh not that your difficult or stupid or anything. I uhh, need to practice working with new people right? So, um, really it's no big deal."

David stared a second and Dwight thought he was going to be seeing stars shortly for implying that David was stupid, but instead he got a big smile and a hearty chuckle. "Fairfield, that was a mess, but I get your gist. Thanks for making this easy on me, yeah. I promise, I'm not as thick as I look."

"I didn't mean it like that..." Dwight quickly blurted

David raised a hand "Save It, Dwight. I know what ya meant but I don't care. You're way too funny when ya stumblin verbally. Too funny to be angry at even slightly." He said this as he smirked.

Dwight blushed slightly. Great, David thinks he's funny, Dwight thought. What's he got himself into now?

"Anyway, I was thinkin' that to make it a little less awkward, you'd wanna go break with me? Might as well get to know ya, right?"

Dwight made a split second decision right then. Reject the offer, forsee a violent outburst that the rational part of Dwight knew wouldn't happen, and Dwight would be left doing the assignment alone. David actually didn't seem that violent unless provoked, and for some reason Dwight knew that David wouldn't hurt him if he declined. Or, he could accept. What would that lead to? Dwight didn't know but for some reason, despite his fear of the unknown he replied with a "Sure."

"Class, lead the way, Fairfield." Dwight turned and David kept pace along side as they made there way back to the class "So, I saw you in the class with those other birds. They yours the both of 'em?" David winked at Dwight and Dwight couldn't help blush deeper.

"Claudette and Kate are friends, David. Not my 'birds'" The term came out wrong on Dwight's lips. "I mean, Claudette's so close she's like a sister or cousin."

"I noticed, since 'stead of having your eyes all o'er 'em, they were on me rather than 'em."

David's tone sounded amused but Dwight was shook. Shit, he thought, did I make it obvious I was checking him out? What does he think? He doesn't seem pissed, does he? "I, uhh don't know what you mean, David." 

"I'm sure you do Dwight. It's quite literal innit? I don't mind the attention, use to it by now, from everyone and anyone" David said with another chuckle and a wink. Dwight was seriously getting mixed signals around now. Was David teasing him? If so... why? Did he... like getting checked out by Dwight? The thoughts swirled to a head just as they reached the language block.

"I'm just ribbing ya Dwight," David said as Dwight became red faced, perhaps feeling bad. "Just a bit of banter. I understand why you'd be interested" David said as he pretend flexed and laughed more, not realising the effect the gesture had on Dwight. If Dwight got any redder he felt like his nose would start bleeding. Was David so merciless in his charm over Dwight? Maybe he was completely clueless.

"Yeah, hah. Just banter." Dwight felt queasy. How did Dwight proceed. He'd need Claudette to save him. Again. What man child Dwight felt like.

He visibly relaxed as he walked into the class and spotted Claudette and Kate sitting quietly by two desks.

Finally, "familiar territory" he thought. Maybe by being with his friends, he could better react and talk to David.

That's when he noticed Claudette was being comforted by Kate as she gazed vacantly at the ground

Something must have happened.

"Woah, what's up Claude? Did something happen?" Dwight's voice carried genuine concern for his hurt friend. He momentarily forgot entirely about David's existence.

Claudette took a second to respond. "It's fine Dwight, honest."

"Hell no it isn't fine, Claude, he can't treat you like that. Who the fuck does he think he is. He can't talk to students that way."

Dwight was a little shocked. Who would be mean to Claudette? Sure she was nerdy, but she was pretty and kind and when approached, she was always willing to be patient with people. Dwight couldn't think of a person who would do such a thing, so he asked "who's doing this?"

"The new biology teacher, Dr Carter." Dwight was shocked at this. Claudette was distressed over a teacher, what the fuck was wrong with the guy to do this to Claudette. Claudette was sensitive but it still must not have been insignificant, Claudette had patience for these things usually. "Right from the get go I didn't think I'd like him. He's scary Dwight, like he is overwhelming without doing anything, just watching intensely. Then he spoke to us. He didn't hesitate to say that his year would be one of selective pickings for top students. He said he'd break us and separate the real biologists from fakers."

Dwight was lost for words. How does a man like this get employed? "What happened next."

Claudette let out a small frown of anguish. "He started by saying that we should all begin a test he had hand made and printed for today. The test was ridiculous, it was all stuff you'd learn doing a PHD, which Dr Carter didn't fail to shove into everyone's throat. When we were finished my paper was at the top, and flicking through it, he started berating me on all my mistakes. He said that if I was a real biologist I would have known these things or studied ahead. When I tried to defend myself he threatened sanctions and when I said that I'd report him to Mr MacMillan, it would never get through. It seemed like he has dirt on him, which would explain how he got a job here. I'm trapped no matter what and I can't stand to be around him. I don't know what to do." Claudette finished her story with a small sob. Kate was patting her back and whispering word of encouragement. David stood to the side with his fists clenched. Dwight was astounded that such cruelty could be dished out in a lesson, to Claudette of all people. Dwight felt a mixture of sadness for Claudette, and terrible anger at this abusive man. Claudette noticed Dwight's frustrated posture, even amongst her own turmoil.

"Sorry Dwight, I didn't mean to upset you. Honest, I'll get over it. The incident is just too recent, you know? But really, it's fine." Claudette tried to assure Dwight that she was fine but he, Kate and even David who knew little to nothing about Claudette, saw that she was torn over it. Somehow Dwight knew she would bounce back by tomorrow, but Dwight equally understood that problems didn't get fixed by blanketing them. This Dr Carter might do this again, and Claudette shouldn't have to worry so much about her passion of biology being destroyed by a sadist. 

As all of these thoughts swirled in Dwights head, he noticed the clock and realised he'd be late to class. Dwight was conflicted between risking lateness but trying to comfort Claudette, or getting to class. Kate noticed at said softly "Dwight, don't worry, I got Claud here. She'll be fine. Go to class and we'll see you at lunch."

Dwight felt bad since he saw parallels with how he acted during the summer, but he didn't see much of an alternative. Claudete, would get better, and she wouldn't give in to Mr Carter, but this knowledge didn't mean he couldn't feel the guilt.

"Dwight? Let's go, yeah?" David firmly gripped Dwight's shoulder, slipping him out of his reverie. "I'll walk you to class."

"O-Of course" Dwight replied perhaps too eagerly. He turned to Claudette. "I promise we'll do something fun later Claud."

With that Claudette's smile grew a little, her mood having gotten better by talking about Dr Carter. The smile slowly dissappeared as Dwight walked away. In truth, the problem was not fixed, and Claudette didn't even know if it could be fixed. She'd have to adapt or risk losing her passion, and that was not acceptable in her mind.

 

"Damn, didn't mean to see that Dwight," David said apologetically. "Might sound like I'm outta line here, but I really feel for that bird. Can't beat your teachers when you disagree, right?" He said that last part with small smirk.

Dwight sighed "No, you can't fight teacher's David. I'd never even think about that. Although that guys seems to be an exception." Dwight screwed his eyes tight in frustration. "Why does someone like that teach? Claudette doesn't deserve that shit."

"Fuck yeah Dwight! Get angry." Dwight turned surprised to David who was smiling widely. "Sorry, just gotta know that you gotta another emotion other than awkwardly uncomfortable." 

"David cmon, not now." Dwight was back to blushing. God, Dwight had his own problem to deal with. "I'm just frustrated, you know. Claudette and I are close."

"I see that." David paused a moment "Are you two a couple or somethin'?" Dwight tilted his head to indicate weariness with David's questioning. "I'm just trying to figure you out."

Dwight scoffed. "David, there isn't much to figure out. Believe me, I've made sure of that."

"Dwight, you gotta be better to yourself than that, 'cause who'll be good to you if not yourself? S'what I always said."

"David, you look like someone who gets into a lot of fights, you can't tell me about being good to myself." 

"Ahh, Dwight, there's two differences though. I fight to keep face, you'know. It's my family, my friends, my coaches. Can't look like a pussy." Dwight creased a little at that last part. "Secondly, I fight for fun and cause I can. Do you stay hidden 'cause you like it? Or are you holding yourself back?"

Dwight fully turned to David. He had no idea that under the rugged exterior that was David's toned body, that there would be a really deep and seemingly caring guy. "You know David, you're surprising me a lot." Dwight realised it could be misinterpretted and began stuttering "In a good way, not that I thought badly of you before we met, uh, yeah."

As the pair walked, David put his arm over Dwight's shoulder and pulled him close while laughing, both surprising Dwight with the sudden motion, but also reassuring Dwight that he was forgiven, or perhaps he never even cared. The latter seemed more lightly.

"Dwight, I can't be mithered for what you thought of me. That's how I feel about most people though. I appreciate a good reputation, but I know that I don't need no one but me'self." 

Dwight was reaching his next lesson of maths. "Well we should make plans for the politics project, uh, wanna... swap numbers?" Dwight asked nervously. Why was he so nervous he thought. This was normal and average and a necesscity for his school work. This shouldn't make him feel so nervous.

"Good idea, one sec." David whips out his phone. Dwight notices that despite its fancy model, it wears cracks and dents across the screen and sides.

David spots Dwights gaze. "From dropping it in fights. If it comes outta no where, i'm not realling thinkin' about my phone much, y'know." 

Dwight chuckles a bit. "Of course they are. I'm not at all surprised."

"That's a shame, but I could find other ways of surprisin' you if you want." David is slightly closer now and smiling smugly.

"Oh c'mon David, we've known each other a day. You can't say things like that. " Dwight says completely aghast. He says it to sound offstandish but he can tell it only edges David on. 

"You won't stop me though." David countered.

"No, I won't stop you because you're stacked" Dwigth replies quickly.

David laughed again at that. "Not cause you don't like it?"

"Of course not." Not true from Dwight

"Sure?" David is in full tease mode

"David! I'm gonna be late for Maths, can you just give me your number already?"

"Oh alright then, just fer you." He winks.

The two exchange numbers and Dwight hurries to class. All throughout maths Dwight ignores his teacher and just thinks of David. There was no way Dwight was getting flirted with by David. Dwight had never expierienced flirting, especially not from a guy, so he was hesitant to tell himself that David was flirting. He thought of his strong jaw line and height, his eyes and his hairstyle. He liked the flirting but he didn't know how to handle it well, which he thought only made David more amused and more likely to continue.

Dwight groaned at his predicament.


	4. Lunch by the window

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwight's day continues as expected. Dialogue opens up the conversation. Slightly awkward but necessary.
> 
> (Ace Visconti runs a pizzeria so he's Italian not Argentinian in this)

Maths flew at varying paces in Dwight's mind. Time lost meaning as it seemed to hasten and lax at intervals. As Dwight worked, studied, questioned shyly and got on quiet as ever, the lesson's pace was as slow as it was for anyone in the class. But occasionally, Dwight's mind would wonder back to David. The time would fly under these thoughts. Thoughts about lunch. Dwight realised that David would probably eat with him. Or not. Maybe Dwight was being presumptuous. How should Dwight know? He knew the guy for less than a day. Should he call him after the lesson? Would that be weird?

By the time the teacher announced homework and asked for books to be handed in, Dwight realised he had stopped half way through a question. He swore quietly under his breath to avoid attention and scrambled to finish it before dropping the book on the teacher's desk. It wasn't as much as he might usually do in a lesson, but Dwight was alright at maths and the contents of his book would be enough to satisfy his maths teacher. Dwight swung his pack around and scrambled immemorably out the class. 

Dwight exited the block and began making his way to the gate where he would inevitably meet either Kate and Claude or he would wait and they'd eventually meet him. Either way, the school was where everyone waited for friends after class before heading into town. Dwight would probably see them there since he had left the last lesson late due to his day-dreaming. 

The students of Brookstead college could go into town for lunch. Dwight enjoyed this due to the many possibilities for lunch. For instance, today it was likely that he, Claude and Kate would probably eat at a local pizzeria to start the year with a good lunch. The pizzeria was a pleasant place and Dwight had gotten a part time job over the summer delivering pizzas. He managed the deliveries with the company vespa. It hadn't been a long thing, Dwight hadn't felt up to do much of it but having worked for the small business meant that the owner, Mr Visconti, gave him and his friends discounts. It was a small perk and Dwight ate there often since it was affordable.

Dwight's reminisce was broken by a figure approaching from Dwight's left. 

"Now then, off t'somewhere nice without me?" David's accent was as strong as ever. 

"uh, no, I was gonna, y'know, go get some lunch with Claude and stuff. But of course you can come too, y'know. As long as you want to of course, your probably busy with, uh other people, so that's cool too, yeah." Dwight was screaming internally from how bad he was cringing himself.

David just looked on with that detestable smirk of his. (Dwight didn't actually hate it.)

"Dwight, ya make this shit too easy. I won't barge into ya lunch unless ye actually want me. I got loads of mates who'd wanna go lunch with a rich cunt like me, y'get me?"

Dwight thought about this briefly. It made sense that a sporty rich kid like David would probably get flocked by people who only wanted to get to any parties he might throw. "David, you're not a ... " Dwight found it hard to swear. "And yeah of course you can come." 

But why? Dwight had only known David for a few hours but he felt a connection of some sort. Whether it be the manifestation of an over imaginative mind, or Dwight's loniliness that propelled him to find company, Dwight really liked David. He knew why too, David seemed to be a loyal friend, a guy who'd stand up for his friends. He talked to Dwight, something almost no one had bothered to try and do. 

Dwight just didn't understand why David liked him.

"Mint, so where we goin'?"

"Uh, how's pizza?" Dwight cringed. A guy like David looked like he ate whey protein for breakfast, lunch and dinner. "I get that it's not, y'know, the most healthy thing so, uh I don't know..." 

David laughed again. "Dwight, I can eat a bloody pizza. S'not gonna make me round, is it?" 

"ha ha" Dwight laughed forcibly. He himself was never really happy with his body and every pizza could sometimes bring feelings of betrayal to himself. "Yeah, no, it won't."

"A'right then, let's go." David started making his way to the gate and Dwight sped up to keep pace. The pair paced through the open yard of Brookstead college. The sun was out, a blessing in a place where rain was so frequent like this. Dwight enjoyed the soft sunlight, not harsh enough to risk burning him. He looked over to DAvid as he walked beside him. He looked like he was enjoying the sun too, but perhaps not as clearly as Dwight, he just kept striding, some how making long steps that surpassed Dwight's normal speed, while still looking like he wasn't at all in a hurry. Dwight and David made it to the gate and Dwight began to look around until he spotted Claudette and Kate. 

"Hey guys, you ready for pizza?" Dwight said a few meters away. It came out cheesy but in the presence of Claudette and Kate, Dwight never felt really embarrassed about his speech.

Claudette looked much better than at break. She was wearing her beret which she wore well and her eyes were no longer puffy. Kate must have sorted her out well enough then. Kate stood by Claudette, small smile in place at Dwight's arrival. As Dwight approched though, the pair noticed David, who they had assumed was simply walking past him. When he was clearly with Dwight, the two gained confused expressions.

Dwight wasn't great at picking up signals like this, but he still quickly figured out the cause of their expressions. "Uh, yeah guys, this is uh David. You kinda saw him at break. Me and him are... um, friends?" Dwight said it like a question. 

David took over. Dwight found it hard to introduce people. He didn't do it often so he had little expierience. "I'm Dwight's new mate. Gotta work wiv him in poli'ics so me an' 'im thought it'd be a sound idea to 'ang out together." David winked to Claudette. "Don't worry, not 'ere to steal ya bessie, swear down."

Claudette took a moment to translate, but then smiled. "Sure, Dwight's great, I'm sure you've seen. I saw you in class, I didn't realise you were actually with Dwight, silly me." Claudette took Kate by the arm to whisper in her ear softly, but not soft enough that Dwight didn't hear "This is great, he could do with some guy friends."

"Claude!" Dwight said indignantly. It was loud enough that some people turned their heads and Dwight immediatly got his voice under control. David snickered at Dwight's embarrassment. "Can you not be my mum away from home?" Dwight asked with mock severity.

"Sorry Dwight." She replied teasingly while looking away guiltily.The telling off was just pretend and the pair began laughing. Although Claudette's words weren't wrong and might have been hurtful from his parents or strangers, it was purely from a place of caring when it came from Claudette. Dwight couldn't help but agree with her, though he didn't say more about it. 

In reality, Claudette was elated by the news. Claudette was not stupid, she knew that Dwight wasn't exactly thronging to parties and social events. She knew of David's family. The calculating part of her mind told her that by being friends with David, he might convince him to come out of his shell a bit. The kindred part of Claudette's mind told her that if Dwight just had more friends, maybe he'd be more confident and believe in himself some more. Dwight really did lack guy friends and Claudette thought that this would make him less comfortable after school, where he'd no doubt go to university and have to interact with all sorts of people. It'd be better if he got some experience now at school. David seemed like a very confident guy, he had spoken with ease to Claudette and shown little nervousness. She hoped that would rub off on Dwight. 

Kate through this had been silently regarding David with what could be described as suspicion. When Dwight made a face to Kate she almost remained glazed over in her day dream, but she quickly smiled again, a façade. "Sorry, I'm Kate. Pleasure to meet you. I hope we get on." David grunted at her response, which only galvanised her suspicions that he was uninterested in Dwight. She didn't see David like a potential friend. Kate wasn't a bad person, but she thought it stupid to not remain guarded in this circumstance. Kate was nice, really she was. But why David? Why did David of all people want to be friends with Dwight? It didn't make sense as she ran over scenarios in her head. Everyone thought Kate was stupid due to her lack of academic excellence, but she was clever, which she considered different than smart. She could see what was going on here. The guy had been so arrogant in his approach, so sure of himself. He had a plan. He winked at Claudette! She was especially angry at that. Regardless, why'd a guy like David want to be around Dwight? Is he bullying him? Pranking him? Doing a dare some mates of his gave him? Was it something possibly more violent? It really seemed to Kate that David had Dwight's trust. Kate saw the sharp knife of the tragedy, upon on which David's real intentions would gut Dwight. Kate loved Dwight like a friend, she couldn't see him crushed again. He might never be the same after such a fall. Kate promised to herself right then that'd she'd be there for Dwight's fall, or stop it entirely. Preferably, she'd do the latter. 

The moment lasted seconds before everyone felt slightly awkward at the silence. 

"So, uh, how about that pizza?" Dwight asked, his tone elevated at the end to convey his comedic awkwardness.

Claudette laughed quietly. "C'mon Dwight let's get that pizza of yours." 

The group walked out the gates and into town. During the short walk the group split into the front and the back, consisting of Dwight and David up front and Claudette with Kate at the back. The gap between them began to spread and Kate turned on Claudette once the boys were far enough ahead. 

"Claude, what're we doing?" Kate asked cryptically. 

Claudette, confused, replied "I don't understand what you mean, we're getting pizza."

"I mean with this David guy. You can't really buy that he and Dwight are friends, right." Kate kept her voice to a hush to avoid them from being eavesdropped. 

"Why not Kate, Dwight can make friends. It's not our job to interfere with who he does and doesn't interact."

"You'd say the same if David was a heroin addict? If he had a record at the police station? You wouldn't stop Dwight from interacting with those bad influence?"

"Kate!" Claudette almost yelled. "That's a totally different situation, you can't judge him like that. He might actually like Dwight. No, actually, I can feel he does. Look at them!"

Surely enough, Kate looked and the two boys up front were talking, David laughing and Dwight smiling and rubbing his own arm in embarassment. 

"He's making him uncomfortable, that's what I see." Kate couldn't watch Dwight being manipulated. "Claudette, don't you think it's weird that a guy like David, who has everything, would try to buddy up with Dwight?"

"What, is Dwight not a good person Kate? Would David not like Dwight cause of who he is?"

"Anyone else Claude, anyone else might. But not him. Why would he? I just don't get it. Look! They're polar opposites. David's a huge. athlete with a loud personality. Dwight is soft spoken, hates sports and is no where near as athletic as David. Dwight's the kind of sweet guy who could be bullied or manipulated by a guy like David. Did you not even consider the possibility that David is just getting Dwight's trust to fufill some dare? That he doesn't care at all?"

Claudette looked up to the pair in front. She kept looking at David, the way he looked at Dwight, his posture, his laughter. She tried and tried to see the evil which Kate claimed was rooted into his character. But she couldn't see it. David wasn't acting, he was genuine. She could feel the sincerity radiate off him like the soft autumn sun in all his laughs and his words. 

"Kate, I'm sorry but I don't see it. I really don't think he's faking it. No matter how ubsurd it might seem in your head, I can see that these two actually like each other." 

"Claude, he's known him for less than a day! How's he gonna know?"

"Give him time then. Let them hang out, talk, get to know one another. Let them come to a conclusion themselves. In the meantime, please don't ruin this for Dwight. Promise me?" Claudette held her pinky up in a childish gesture.

Kate hesitated before scoffing into a smile. "I'm trusting you Claude, I'll believe you if you think that David's a good guy. I have reservations, but" Kate raised her hand hand and held out her pinky finger. "I promise to not insert myself into Dwight's business."

The two shook on their pinkys and began laughing as they walked, attracting the attention of David and Dwight at the front. 

"God, we're worse than little girls, honestly." Kate smiled.

"Crazy to think how old we are, huh." Claudette joked.

"I couldn't wait to grow up when I was little, now that I'm here though, I want a refund."

"You wear your many years very well Kate." Claudette teased.

Kate smiled at Claudette. "C'mon, lets catch up or Dwight'll think we're not hungry."

The pair briskly walked together up to the back of the two boys.

"Oh, you guys decided to return huh?" Dwight said with a smirk.

Before they could reply they reached the pizza place and entered to find a table. Lunch at Brookstead college was allocated an hour and a quarter, meaning that the group, who had spent less than five minutes going to the pizzeria, had plenty of time.

The group found a table by the window with Dwight and David sitting next to each other and Claudette with Kate. Just as they settled down, the owner, Mr Visconti came to wait on them. His dress was a worn suit that would look bad on anyone except him. He had whitening hair and a greying beard. He could often be seen with a fedora outside the restaurant when he was walking around with his partner. Mr Visconti didn't really do monogamy, and was constantly flinging with women from the town which had earned him a varied reputation based on who you asked.

"Salve, signore Fairfield. Comé va?" Mr Visconti, despite knowing that Dwight didn't speak Italian, had insisted he'd learn the basics in his short job their. 

Hearing "Salve" Dwight remembered the phrase Mr Visconti had told him to reply with. "Sto bene, pero, starei meglio se mi daresti da mangiare." Dwight was surprised he remebered the phrase so well. He must have thought about it more than he ought to have. 

At his response Mr Visconti cheered and put his hand up for a high five. The guy was so ridculous but confident that be pulled it off. "Bravo! I see you brought some friends again? Ottimo!" Mr Visconti's accent was a little thick and he could occasionally forget he wasn't back in Italy. "I'll start with some water and let you all look throught the menu." Mr Visconti left to grab the water.

David was the first to speak. "I'm impressed Fairfield, didn't think you spoke Italian." "Nah I don't really, just some phrases and responses. Mr Visconti was very insistent." "Well I didn' understand a word that bloke just said. Never 'eard someone speak like that." 

At this, Dwight couldn't stop laughing. When he managed to control himself he had a very confused David ask him with a "Ee are, what's so funny?"

"David, I'm pretty sure that even if you tried, you wouldn't be able to understand him, just like he probably can't understand a word of what you're saying. Just think it's kinda funny." Dwight regained his composure. The idea of David commenting on someone's accent just sent him over the edge.

"I bet too, 'ed be able to understand me, I speak proper. He wouldn't have a mither of it at all." David said confidently. 

"Really? Why don't you order the pizzas then?" 

"Well now, no need to be rash" He said with a smirk " I admit, 'ed probably have a bit of a tizzy over it now tha' you say it." David replied. "You can order 'em, unless of course ya need me to do it for ya?" The two kept jabbing each other playfully while Claudette and Kate chose their pizzas and talked about school and weekend plans. When Mr visconti arrived, he came with note pad. "Pronto?" He asked. Dwight knew that to be "ready?"

"Uh, one sec," Dwight realised he hadn't looked at the menu much yet. "Claudette, you go first." 

So Claudette ordered a Margherita, Kate a pepperoni, David a pizza with ham and cheese and it came back to Dwight again. He still hadn't decided so he just got a Margherita in his haste.

"Won't take long, ragazzi, coming right up." Mr Visconti left to go back to the kitchen again to send in their order.

"So, David, what'd you do for fun?" Claudette asked to spark a dialogue. She wanted to know David better so that she could prove to Kate that David was a good guy. 

"Well, I can guess ya know that I play rugby since that's pretty much what everyone says about me." David looked a little annoyed as he said this. "S'all bout rugby in my house. Gotta coach, I train four times a week, play a match at least once a week. S'all a good way of letting loose, ya know." 

"Actually David, I don't really know." Kate spoke nonchalantly. "I've never found sport to be as freeing as music. Just get into my groove when i'm strumming my guitar."

Dwight was a little nervous. Why had Kate said that? That was a deliberately conflicting thing to say. Unless she didn't mean it like that? Dwight looked over to David in anticipation. 

"Hm, neva could quite get me fingers to work properly on a guitar. Mind you, I really tried. Marje wan'ed me to learn flute, then piano, then guitar, then she just gave up. I think I would've looked a little ridculous on the flute, nah?" David finished his story laughing. Dwight relaxed, he'd not expected this reaction from David. He was showing Dwight that he could both take a jab and also that he could hold back. David continued with "I do love music, the typical bangers. Got respect for people who can play music."

"hm, funny you should say that." Kate replied, now actually engaged in conversation with David.

Kate began telling David of her deep connection with music and how it pretty much infiltrated almost every aspect of her life. She told him about the charity work she'd do for hospices, the gigs she'd play, the music she'd write. David would intermit sentences with agreeable words and laugh where appropriate. Claudette observed this and smiled. Kate might begin to see what she saw in David. Claudette wasn't even sure what she saw, but she knew it wasn't out to hurt Dwight, which was what mattered. She shook her head to herself. She really was acting like Dwight's mum.

Eventually the conversation died down just as Mr Visconti brought the pizzas. As they ate they didnt speak much. Once everyone had eaten enough, Dwight ordered the bill and they each paid their meals. David offered to pay for the table, he didn't really mind but everyone insisted that they were fine.

"Honest, 'm not mithered to pay for ya guys. Not bein' a bellend, just wann'ed to do you a favour s'all."

Dwight patted David on the shoulder "Don't worry about it David, we know you just wanted to be nice." 

David looked over to where Dwight had touched him. Their height difference was apparent here. David felt Dwight's hand and smiled down to him.

"Ah, no problem. I un'erstand ye choice." David shrugged his shoulders. He knew that people could feel weird when they were payed for. They might feel like they'll be manipulated later on. David honestly didn't care. He was loaded from his family and he didn't really have to worry about it. Why not share?

"Arrivederci!" Yelled Mr visconti as the group walked out the restaurant. The pizza had been good as always and the group left well satisfied. Like before, Claudette and Kate fell behind Dwight and David.

"Thanks fer the pizza, it wer well sound." David leaned towards Dwight

Dwight smiled sheepishly, not use to compliments. "No problem, thanks for, you know, coming and all." 

"Oh so you enjoyed me company then? That's sweet of you cock."

Dwight took a moment to remember that cock in this case was said as endearment, not as an insult. "Ha uh, yeah well." Dwight fumbled with his words until he said. "I think you're pretty cool so, yeah, uh." Dwight turned his head again to avoid eye contact. "Crap, that sounded a bit pathetic."

"Oi, don't worry. I get that ya nervous 'n that, but I see how you are with Claude 'n Kate. Treat me the same, y'know?" 

Dwight wished he could treat David the same, but it wasn't the same kind of relationship. He didn't feel butterflies around Claude, he didn't feel nervous... He didn't feel attracted to her like he felt to David. Instead of saying this, Dwight just nodded.

"Ok then."

"Mint, ya not so bad Fairfield. Give youself some credit." 

Dwight shrugged at that. "Doesn't always feel like it. Sometimes I do feel bad, both for feeling out of place and doing out of place things..."

"Nah man, none of that, yeah? Look, ya got two girls back there" He points behind himself with a thumb over his shoulder. "who are all over you. Claude cares fer ya, 'n Kate's like an angry dog on 'er pups, if ya get me. People do care fer ya."

"But why do you care David? I... I don't understand why you specifically like me." 

David hesitates for a few seconds "Ah bloody hell... Look , don't really need to know why, do ye? Just gotta know that I wanna care fer ya as well."

Dwight guessed that he wouldn't get an exact response anytime soon, so he just clung to the "care fer ya as well" of David's response. For the whole walk back to school David was silent, which did nothing to stop Dwight's rampant thoughts. 

David wanted to be like Claude and Kate to him.

Rather than question it, to ask why him, Dwight began to instead think of what that meant for Dwight. David would be more involved in his life.

Dwight would have someone strong and loyal and confident in his life. He'd have an athlete in his group. He'd have a guy to talk to for problems that Kate and Claude wouldn't be able to understand. He'd start something terrorifying but new.

Dwight would have another friend.


	5. Down time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwight goes home and has some time to think.

The group arrived at school and they had about 10 minutes to return for registration. They walked calmly, not in much of a hurry to go back to class. They'd all enjoyed there lunch and, although she was at first apprehensive, Kate was beginning to trust David. The lunch had helped her see that he was just another guy, not some scary monster that the media could portray athletic people as. Her trust wasn't complete yet, she couldn't wholly let down her guard, but she could relax in his presence somewhat.

The fierce sun of the day was mediated by the most pleasant of breezes, keeping the group from overheating while allowing them to enjoy the rays. As they walked to class, Claudette sped up to David and began distracting him so Kate could drag back a bit. Dwight thought the gesture strange, couldn't they all talk together?

"Uh, hey Kate. What's up?" Dwight asked cautiously. 

"Not much, just needed some time to talk with you." Kate replied nonchalantly 

"Without David?" 

Kate's expression looked slightly pleading. "Yes, just a moment Dwighty." She let Dwight sigh away his lack of approval. "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry for... being too defensive in front of David."

Dwight made a confused face. "I don't know what you mean. You and David were getting on, weren't you?"

"We did in the end, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I had apprehensions. I wanted to make sure that David was a good guy you know?"

"You... were grooming him?" Dwight was a bit shocked. He hadn't known Kate could be like this. "I thought you were happy to meet him."

"Yes! I am now. I just wanted you to know that... I wanted to make sure he wouldn't hurt you. I love you like a good friend Dwight and... I let my insecurities convince me that David would be an arsehole." Kate pauses pensively. "But I regret that, because he's actually not a bad guy. I was just trying to help you and I'm sorry if it made things weird for you." 

The scenery around them changed to the halls leading to their class. The blur of note boards and white paint went by hardly noticed.

Dwight was still processing the information. "Honestly Kate, I was pretty oblivious to it. It's fine, and I do appreciate your worrying. But David's trying really hard. I can appreciate that considering it's not exactly a power play for popularity." Dwight thought about what David's friends would think about him being around Dwight. It couldn't possibly help him get in with the athletic lads, but David had made it clear that he really didn't care about the opinions of others. He'd just lamp them one if it got told to his face. Dwight smile at that. "I'm pretty sure David noticed your hostility more than I did. Said something about you being protective."

Kate giggled at that. "What a gentleman to not make an issue of it. He's a nice guy huh."

"Yeah, that's what I've been trying to tell you." Dwight laughs as he speaks.

"Well then, he's good looking, thoughtful and clever." Before Kate could stop herself, she said "He's a keeper, huh Dwight."

The group was now in class, but Dwight had frozen up a little. "Uh, what do you mean Kate?" "Uh, I uh mean that, errr." She threw her hands up in an apologetic gesture. What had Kate been implying? As he looked up, he saw the look on her face, a face which shouted "I fucked up." She turned her face away, perhaps embarassed that she'd slipped up.

As Dwight was about to push further, ask her what she meant, she was saved by the metaphorical bell, which came in the form of a "Oi, you lot, s'startin soon." from David. He ushered the two in, ignorant of Dwight's thought process which threatened to send him into a small panic. 

Did Kate... know he was gay? Had he made it obvious? What if everyone knew? Did Claudette know? Did... David know?"

Dwight's thoughts were stopped as Mr Ojomo started taking the register. His voice was constant and strong. Dwight listened to it as a distraction, making only a noise when he was called. Dwight stole a look at David, who appeared uninterested. Then Claudette, who was looking at Kate, who was turned away. Claudette instantly picked up on something but kept quiet. 

"Well then, good to see that none of you ran away on the first day, hmm?" Mr Ojomo joked to nobody in particular. Before he left he gave a quick "Off to your next classes now, I'll see all of you tomorrow." 

Dwight couldn't be stunned forever, he had to go to economics. He made his way to stand up and leave.

"Dwight, what's the matter?" Claudette asked, noticing his eagerness to leave the room. "You seem on edge."

"Um." Dwight looks over to Kate behind Claudette. She's got her hands in a begging position, pleading with her eyes to Dwight. "I'll tell you some other time."

Claudette frowned. "Dwight, it's not embarrassing to tell me..." Dwight interrupted her. "Not that, it's not embarrassing, its, I, uh, I'll tell you later." He immediately regretted cutting her off. "Hmm" Claudette murmured, surprised too. "Well, I have to go now... but seriously, call me later. I'll get worried if you don't." Despite Dwight's outburst, she knew that there must be something serious at hand since Dwight wasn't usually so spontaneous 

Dwight agreed, although he wasn't sure he would follow through with her request. "Yeah, sure." He again made his way over to the door but was stopped by David.

"Walk ya te class?" He asked genuinely, expecting the typical Dwight to respond with nervous acceptance of his offer. But instead Dwight looked past David.

"Um, I uh, really want to just get to class. Why don't you talk with Kate and Claudette more, hm?" Dwight was pulling at threads. He just wanted to be alone and get today done as soon as possible. "Please?"

David's response bordered on anger. "Oi, It weren't them I wanted to walk with though, were it? I was talkin' to em so we could be mates. 'N now ye don' wanna talk to me? What's mithering ye so much that you gotta beg me to leave ye alone?" Dwight frantically tried to come up with a response that wouldn't be indicative of anything. "David, it's something personal. I need to process this." Of course, such a vague statement stoked suspicion in David. "What, 's about me or somethin'?" David's face faltered a bit. He feared Dwight might be like all the other kids who talked shit about him behind his back. Dwight backpedalled. "Ugh, no its not that, I uh really need to just go. Please David, I promise it's got nothing to do with you. I, uh, I'll call you later." David didn't try to block him as he began walking to economics without further disturbance. The halls seemed louder than before, and even as Dwight walked around the school grounds, he couldn't hear himself think. So he didn't think, and he just walked to his destination, his mind empty like a void. He reached his class before he realised it and was early enough to build a ring of books and notes and stationery with which to hide behind. The class filled, settled, learned and emptied. It was like how the tides rose and fell and Dwight's sense of time was accelerated, not even realising the lesson was over so quickly.

Dwight left the school grounds, eager to avoid meeting any of his friends and to just get home. The scenery which looked so picturesque this morning was dull to Dwight. He just picked up the pace and walked faster, anxious to get home. Not that it would save him from the thoughts that were to come, but it would let him deal with them alone. He walked up the path to his house, an inconspicuous building among many others. Not too big, not too small. Not at the ends of the street but right in the middle, hidden in plain sight, just like Dwight.

The door was unlocked and opened easily and Dwight made his way upstairs quickly. He heard the TV in the background, so his mum must have been home. 

"Dwighty? You home?" Dwight's mother called from the living room. "How was your day?"

Dwight was respectful to his parents, and despite not really being in the mood, he stopped his ascent upstairs and made polite conversation regardless. The walk had calmed Dwight down and he could do his mum the favour of being a nice son. He felt like he at least owed his parents that much.

"I'm doing good, thanks." Dwight lied.

"First day back wasn't too rough, right?" She smiled as she asked, hoping her son was at least getting by with some happiness. 

"No, it was good, honest." Dwight was about to tell her about David but stopped himself. He couldn't be bothered to deal with the questions and conversation that would come after such an unusual statement. "How was your day?" 

"Oh, you know... I worked a few hours down by Café vert as usual, got home, had late lunch, watched tv..." her gaze dropped momentarily before she picked back up her smile. "Usual stuff."

"Good to hear." Dwight was happy his mother was working. She'd hitten quite a low when she'd been unemployed, unmotivated and depressed. It was good that she was feeling better again. "I'm gonna go and have a shower." 

"Alright Dwighty, I'll leave you to it." She went back for the remote as Dwight turned to leave but stopped herself breifly. "Dwight?"

"Yeah mum?" Dwight turned.

"I love you sweety... we don't spend nearly enough time together. I like these little catch up talks we have. If you ever need to talk about something, I'm always here." She smiled and Dwight smiled back, a brief moment of happiness. 

"Ok mum, I got it." Dwight felt bad for keeping stuff from his parents but he told himself he was doing it for their sake, that they didnt need to deal with Dwight's shit along with their own. "We'll have a chat at dinner, yeah?

"Of course, see you then sweety."

Dwight retreated back up the stairs to his room. His relationship with his parents was normal by now. When he'd been little they'd been closer but as Dwight grew up and his expenses started to add up and his mum lost her job and money got tighter, he saw his parents less and less. It coincided with the time in Dwight's life where he would actually get to know his parents as friends rather than guardians, so Dwight's knowledge of his parents was all formed around a child's perspective and what he'd wanted to know when he was little. Dwight just dealt with it. He didn't need to know his parents that personally, maybe he'd just do it when they were all grown ups under different roofs. Yeah, that sounded about right to Dwight.

As Dwight peeled of the clothing of the day he grabbed a towel from the radiator and prepared to shower, shedding the hot and sweaty clothing into the laundry bin. As he entered the bathroom and ran the shower he thought back to what had happened at school. 

Kate knew he was gay. First things first; how? How did Kate know? Dwight hadn't been super discreet he had to admit, but he'd not been at all a stereotypical gay guy. He was... just a guy who happened to be gay. Not defined by his sexuality in anyway, especially since he wasn't even out yet. He felt like the media portrayed this hyper feminine standard for gay people which Dwight didn't associate with. Not that he had a problem with those people, it just didn't feel like he was like them. Maybe Kate had caught him staring at David? Possibly, but such a brief instant could mean anything. Dwight hadn't seen Kate for most of the summer and he hadn't even known he might be gay in the years prior. So she figured it out all today. It didn't answer his question. He just simply didn't know.

Groaning, he tested the water and found it warm, but cold enough to cool his sun baked skin. He was clotheless and he entered, enjoying the comforting splash of water on his shoulders and hair. As he lathered soap and began washing himself, he thought more.

Had he over reacted to Kate? Looking back on it, he realised that he might have made a scene without need. Kate's statement had shocked him, to say the least, but Dwight had acted unfairly to David and Claudette, lying and being evasive. They weren't involved in this and Dwight regretted making them either worried for him. Dwight began to wash his hair, and as he did he thought to himself that he'd call Claudette and David to apologise. He was unsure about calling Kate. He'd rather just talk to her face to face about it.

Dwight continued his thoughtless scrubbing as he thought about the next issue. If Kate had figured it out so quickly, the truth wouldn't be a secret for much longer. How would his parents react? His friends? Even David... How would they all react. Dwight knew that in this day and age, he was living in a culture which expierienced the least amount of homophobia since the ancient greeks. He wasn't going to be outcast or discriminated against by the law. It was the shock to the ones closest to him, the suddeness of the announcement. Perhaps it was even the horror of having never known, realising that you truly knew nothing about the internal machinations of someone you thought you knew so well. If they could hide something like this for God knows how long, what else? Dwight thought about the moment one would step back and think "I don't know you."

His parents would probably be supportive in the end. They loved him. But he wouldn't be able to explain himself. He'd tell them and they'd be left in the dark, paralysed by an inability communicate with him. They'd assume the worst. They'd read articles and hear the news and make opinions on things before Dwight could tell them what he thought himself. Maybe they'd even realise how much Dwight keeps from them. He doesn't like to, he really doesn't. But it's in Dwight's nature to be hidden, to want to be invisible, quiet, insignifcant, to not draw any attention.

Not to say he liked his nature. He wanted to change, to be louder, more confident. To lead people and be visible, and sometimes it would come out and he'd smile and laugh and go dizzy from ecstasy, the rush of being alive. Then the rush would fizzle and wane, the high of living a life he would never truly live would wear off and he'd go back to his natural ways, cruising by like he always did. He'd go back to being nobody. Nature would win over like it always did. He was trapped.

He'd often laid awake at night, knowing he'd regret these moments of powerlessness. He'd grow up and look back and realised that he wasted a quarter of his life by not living. And he would cry and thrash, silent as ever, lest he draw attention to himself in the dead of night where he alone was awake, weeping even more from the knowledge that a quarter of his life was generous. He might be eighty when he finally realised that he could just start living, that he had that choice, that he didn't have to live in the background, and what use was that? Was there a fate more cruel than that? And yet, he couldn't do it. A self fufilled prophecy of self annihilation, caused by no one but himself.

He shuddered, squirming inside without making a sound, silently screaming as he scared himself. After all, Dwight knew better than anyone else what he feared. His fear that he'd waste his one opportunity on this earth. He'd wanted to do so much when he was little. Now he was just numb crying as the shower pounded his shoulders. "Wake the fuck up Fairfield. Get your shit together. Stop being so weird. If you were normal like anyone else you might even be happy." The anger in his mind spoke to him, taunting him to get up. He used all his willpower to dredge his mind from the murky well that were his deep thoughts.

Dwight's face was dripping from the shower so his wet eyes didn't stand out. He turned off the shower and stepped out to grab the towel. The shower had brought out the best and worst of his thoughts. He'd thought, but like a double edge sword, he'd thought too much and gone to the place where his mind musn't. Where he'd avoided for as long as possible. The place he'd spent his summer. He needed a goddamn councillor.

Dwight dried his hair with the towel before grabbing the hair dryer, letting it sear his face a little bit in an effort to drive the moisture from his eyes. When he finally finished drying up his hair he worked his body again, passing the towel over his body hair and torso, wanting to be dry enough to lie in bed and try to calm down. Once finished, he dumped himself on the bed and brought his phone up, thinking of ways to pass the time. 

The calls. He'd have to make them sooner or later.

He opened up his contacts and flicked down. Who to call first, Claudette or David? He'd promised Claudette, so he felt more obligated to call her first. He felt bad for making her worry in the first place. She didn't need to keep Dwight on her mind.

He dialed the number up and let the ring happen for a few seconds before Claudette picked up.

"Hey Dwight, you made the call. You feeling alright?" She sounded like she was putting forced positivity into her tone.

"Hey Claude, I'm good, just calling like you asked. How are you doing?"

"Oh never mind me Dwight, I asked you to make this call because of you. What had you so spooked back at school?"

Dwight wiggled in his bed. "Um, Claude, I'm not in a great place right now. I just wanted to say that I'll tell you tomorrow when I feel a little better." Dwight lowered his voice. "And to apologise for storming off, it wasn't fair of me. You're just trying to help."

Claudette could be heard tutting. "Dwight, c'mon. You don't have to apologise. Clearly something was stressing you out and I just wanted to know if you were better now. I'll be there whenever you have something to say." He could almost see her understanding smile right now. "I promise that I'm always here to talk to. If you've got something on your mind, I'll listen." 

Dwight broke into a small smile. How'd he get such a great friend? "Thanks Claude, I'll see you tomorrow then." 

"Take care Dwight, hope you feel good tomorrow."

"Bye." Dwight ended the brief call. It felt good to hear Claudette's voice even for a moment. It also allowed Dwight to liberate himself of half the weight on his chest from his little outburst. Now, on to the other half...

Dwight scrolled through his contacts again to find David's number. He breathed deeply to calm himself before dialing the number. He sat fidgeting as the line rang and continued to ring. But the call wasn't picked up. Dwight tried again but was met with the same fate. David was too busy to answer Dwight's call. He tried not to feel indignant, the world didn't revolve around him, he couldn't expect David to be available all the time. But Dwight really wanted to tell David he was sorry for pushing him aside in his nervousness. He worried that David might not understand.

After lying on the bed for what felt like an eternity, but was really twenty minutes, Dwight decided that he'd just get his homework done in the time between now and dinner. He started with some research for the politics project he and David would have to work on soon. The notes he wrote down would save him time when he'd actually begin the project. Dwight had decided to do more of his maths, which had been lacking in the lesson. He'd fallen slightly behind and the revision helped bring him back up to date. He heard his dad come through the door, which meant dinner would be ready soon. Dwight just flicked through various mobile games he had on his phone and played mindlessly until his mother called him for dinner. 

"Dwight! Food's ready!" His mum called from the kitchen.

Dwight stretched off his chair and closed the laptop on his way down to the kitchen. As he sat at the table, his father came to sit as well.

"Hey buddy, how you doing?" Dwight's dad smiled, the resemblance was uncanny to his son. But he had bags under his eyes and he was yawning as he spoke. The long hours at the hospital were wearing him out, no matter how much he tried to disagree.

"All good Dad, all good." Dwight said vaguely. "How was work?" Dwight knew exactly how work was. It was written all over his face. It was hard.

His father laughed and pointed to himself. "A guy like me? Piece of cake." He laughed at his own joke before calming down. "No, but it's all fine Dwight. Yesterday was just really busy, you know." 

"Yeah, I get it." said Dwight casually.

"Alright boys, dinner is served." His mum brought a pot of pasta and sauce to the table. 

"Thanks honey, it looks great." Mr Fairfield told his wife.

"hmm. Thanks mum." Dwight added. It'd be impolite to not thank her for cooking when everyone knew she hated it. 

The rest of dinner was passed with small chit chat about work and ideas for what to do for the Christmas holidays, despite it being September. The Fairfield's couldn't afford many holidays but they tried to at least go to a nice hotel in Paris or London to celebrate the festivities. It was minamalist, but done as a family so it was worth it to Mr and Mrs Fairfield. As Dwight finished he got up and cleaned his plate and cutlery, put it on the drying rack and excused himself from the table. Dwight reached his room and was going to turn on his laptop to watch Netflix, but he stopped when he heard his phone ring. He grabbed it and checked the caller ID, and seeing that it was David's, he siezed up momentarily before relaxing. 

"Uh, hey David. What's up?"

"Alrigh' Dwight?" David was somewhere loud, it sounded like he was in a crowd. "Saw you tryin' ta call me. W'as that about?"

"Right, I was just calling cause I wanted to say sorry for earlier. You know, being a bit off-standish and that."

"Don' worry abou' it. Ye were busy or somethin', its a'right." The background noise persisted.

"Cool, just checking." Dwight wondered whether to end the call there or not but his curiosity got the better of him. "Where are you at the moment?"

"I jus' came outta training. Saw ya missed calls 'n that so I called back."

Dwight came to a realisation as he finally recognised the background noise. "David, are you in a changing room."

"Yeah, so?" David responded. "Do ya not like it if a call you when I'm half naked 'n swea'y?"

Dwight covered the microphone and groaned. "Not fucking helpful right now." he mumbled. He put his ear back. "No, I was just curious is all."

David's laugh could be heard on the otherside. "Good, cause I'm gonna be 'ere a lot of the time. It's where I spend most of me after school time. So, ya need anythin' else?"

Dwight gave his words a thought before continuing. "Just wanted you to know that I need to tell you something important tomorrow. That's all."

"Well I'll be all ears then. Cya tomorrow."

"Bye David, have a nice night." Dwight ended the call. Had he just told David he was gonna be coming out tomorrow?

Dwight mentally berated himself. Was that the right decision? Too soon? How would his parents feel that he'd told his friends before he told them?

Dwight laid on the bed, thoughts of Netflix or videogames vacating his mind. Now was not the time for that. He thought of his options and as he did so, he grew very tired. The bed he laid on called to him but Dwight wasn't a pig, so he got up and went to brush his teeth. 

The mindless action of cleaning gave Dwight more time to think. He tried to think of unimportant things, like where to eat tomorrow or what he'd do for the politics project. He tried, but he felt the dark place calling again. He just hoped that sleep would take him before the thoughts overwhelmed him.

Dwight was finally ready to sleep. He put on his music like he always did before bed, trying to get himself to relax, to lose the stress and anxiety he'd built over the day, ready for the next trial. 

Dwight slept, but his slumber was not dreamless like he hoped. It began with the typical troublesome dreams. Dwight wouldn't recognise them once he awoke though so he learned not to fear them. What he remembered as he rose with a start was seeing David, shirtless and protecting Dwight from a masked man with a machete and bloody overalls. It was surreal and Dwight knew he was dreaming since such an event could never happen within the confines of his universe. It could never be real to have David that close to him, so caring for his safety, so Dwight decided not to feed his unorthodox desires within the dream world. Dwight sat up and checked his phone, seeing it was 4 in the morning. Rubbing his eyes he tried to go back to sleep, not wanting to think about the ramifications of dreaming about someone. 

Nope, he could think about that tomorrow.


	6. You can be free too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwight's second school morning. Things go unexpectedly, for better or worse.  
> (A short chapter I wanted to get out before my holiday, see notes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one cause I have a small announcement that's probably no one's concern. 
> 
> I'm going on holiday with my family on Sunday and I'll be there for about 3 and a bit weeks. In that time, it's most likely impossible for me to get any published writing done. So, basically, I'm gonna be gone for a while and not publishing or checking my tumblr. I will still be around on ao3 to comment and reply and read and all that, there just won't be any new works from me.

Dwight woke up feeling pretty groggy, which of course was to be expected after such a broken sleep. He had to wake up at seven to get ready, so he was really not appreciating the loud chirps of birds and bright light that infiltrated his room. He lay in bed for a moment, just trying to reconnect his brain to his body.

Oh, right.

The memories of yesterday's events came back and Dwight groaned at his predicament. He couldn't think about these things when he was so tired, so he didn't bother. That's a problem for future Dwight to sort out.

He rose from the bed, rubbing his eyes of the dust and junk that accumulated as he had slept. Dwight was still tired so his body was sent into auto pilot as he unthinkingly went downstairs to go make himself breakfast. As he put spoonful of cereal after spoonful into his mouth he scrolled through his Instagram feed. He wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing, just swiping, tapping scrolling mindlessly until he reached a part of the app he rarely visited. Friend requests.

Curious, Dwight opened it to find that David had sent him a request. Dwight shot up a little and considered it. It'd be weird to decline it, wouldn't it? Dwight didn't post much aside from the occasional post he'd been asked to post by either Kate or Claude. Dwight never dm'd anyone and really only used this app to scroll through memes. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to accept. So he did and he sent back a request to David to follow him back. 

Adding someone on Facebook or Instagram was a fairly normal thing to do, right? Dwight would surely be overthinking it if he thought that there was any underlying motive to that action. 

Aside from that, Dwight's morning was pretty standard, as he showered, combed, brushed, dressed and packed to get to school on time. 

Dwight's mum got down the stairs just as he was getting ready to leave by checking his pocket for his phone and wallet. 

"Hey sweety, how ya feeling?" She asked. She looked happy despite being sleepy. Dwight guessed she had just gotten a rare night of good sleep.

"I'm fine, Mum, thanks. Just, y'know, getting ready is all."

"Of course, I just wanted you to know that I could get a home quite late tonight, so you might have to sort yourself out for dinner. Of course your father won't be home either so don't bother making extra." She looked sad at having to leave Dwight home for dinner, but there was no other option.

"Noted." Dwight said shortly. He'd just order something or eat a sandwich. It would be lonely, but Dwight was used to it. He looked at his mum at saw the discomfort on her face. "Don't worry about it, I know that you'd rather be home. It's fine." He tried to reassure her. Dwight had to do his best for his parents. They needed him.

She grew a smile of endearment. "Oh Dwighty, you're such a sweetheart. I promise I'll make up for it on the weekend. I'll find something fun to do." Dwight nodded back, not expecting anything. They'd probably just watch a movie on the couch, maybe or maybe not with Dad there as well. 

"That'd be great mum. But I've got to go now, sorry." 

"Sure, don't be sorry." Dwight used his key to open the door. "Love you hon." 

Dwight smile with embarassment. His mum was lovable but very clingy sometimes. Unfortunately for her, the nature of the Fairfield lifestyle prevented her from spending much time with her son. "You too." With that, he turned to lock the door and began his walk to school. 

The weather today was much like yesterday, although the breeze was absent, leaving the air feeling slightly hot. Dwight hoped it wouldn't make him sweat too much. He couldn't stand it when he was overheated. 

As Dwight walked he put on his headphones. He had two playlists. There was one where he loved the songs, but often they were too depressing to bare. The other was more upbeat but rather mindless pop music that had risen the charts. He flipped to the easy going songs, not needing to get to school in a mood. 

Flipping through the app he noticed he'd recieved a few notifications. One was from his mum, telling him there were chips in the freezer if he wanted. Another was for an email about some charity event at school. The last one was telling Dwight that David had accepted his friend request. Both to distract himself and out of curiosity, Dwight opened the app up and found David's profile.

Dwight didn't find anything out of the ordinary. His bio was simple, his profile picture was him and a few mates, he didn't upload to his story. The account initially left Dwight a little dissappointed, although he chided himself for thinking so childishly. Still, he hadn't actually scrolled through the posts, of which there seemed to be many. So Dwight did just that, finding David in his rugby kit, posing for a picture. He was a little muddy and he had that smile which David was often wearing. It was a cute picture Dwight thought. He immediatly shook his head and changed post. The next was a candid picture of David mid-tackle. The quality of the image was great, so the photo was probably taken by a professional photographer and then sent to him. It was taken from the side and his face could be seen in a crazed grin as he used his powerful legs to bring down the unfortunate player with the ball.

Dwight scrolled to the next picture and instantly scrolled back up from embarrassment. When Dwight had taken a moment, he scrolled back down, once again finding a picture of David at the gym. He was sat on a bench press opposite a mirror which he used to take the picture. His gym kit was a breathable tank top and gym shorts which showed off his arms, shoulders and legs. Dwight was frustrated just by looking at the picture. David was so fucking good looking, it wasn't fair on Dwight. There was no chance in hell that David was gay. He was an athletic hunk. In Dwight's mind, such people could never be gay since he'd never seen one. Dwight would have a crush on his friend who'd either be oblivious or not interested. That could never not be awkward. 

Dwight groaned as he put his phone away. That was enough stalking for this morning, he thought. Dwight tried to get over what he'd seen and began humming the music he was playing. Anything to distract himself. 

It turned out that Dwight's distraction made the walk to school very short and he found himself in class quite quickly and early enough that not many people were around. One of the students was Laurie Strode, a normal looking student. She was kind enough of a person, so Dwight gave her a wave as he entered the classroom. 

"Morning Dwight." 

"Morning Laurie." 

That was the end of the interaction between the two. Dwight was too nervous or indifferent to keep talking. Laurie was just being polite and well mannered. She was studious, social and pretty. Not a snobby popular girl, not a nerd. She just... worked hard. It was obvious from her copious notes and clearly inquisitive nature, always paying attention. Dwight should try to be friends with her. She seemed like a nice girl.

He didn't.

Dwight sat down in his usual spot in the room, head buried in his bag, looking for something to do to pass the time. He didn't really have anything pending at the moment and he wanted to avoid the temptation of going back on his phone. So Dwight just leaned back, propping up a second chair and sat with his legs up, using the time to doze off. He was still tired from the interrupted sleep of last night. At least maybe he'd get a moment to just relax before the start of his day.

The door to the classroom and the distinct voice of two people filled the room. Dwight guessed he wouldn't be getting a break after all. 

Unexpectedly, David and Claudette walked into the form room, talking. David was making big gestures and Claudette was giggling in response. Dwight felt a little out of place. 

"Mornin' sleepy'ead." David said jokingly, noticing Dwight's reclined position.

"Morning, David. Hey Claude." Dwight said sleepily. He must have looked incredibly dopey.

Claudette frowned, instantly going into mother mode. "You look a little rough Dwight. You alright?" 

Dwight really wished she'd forgotten about his promise yesterday. "Yeah, don't worry. Just tired is all."

"It's the second day of school this year, Dwight. You shouldn't be tired." Claudette prodded. "Are you sure there's nothing bothering you?" 

David put a hand on Dwight's shoulder. "Oh, give the bloke a break Claude, 'e's not lookin' so grand righ' now." Dwight both thanked David for saving him and also really wished he didn't have a hand on his shoulder. He wasn't used to people being so touchy feely. 

"I'm not pressuring him for anything." Claudette raised her hands lightly. "I just want to know how I can help." 

Dwight smiled weakly at Claudette "There's nothing to help with, honest. I'm just tired." 

Just as this was said, Kate poked her head through the door, as if wanting to check if Dwight was in school yet. Seeing the situation with Dwight looking uncomfortable, Claudette looking exasperated, and David holding onto Dwight, her mind jumped to assumptions. Kate and Dwight made eye contact and the other two looked over, noticing his line of sight. 

"Uh." Kate stammered. "Shit Dwight, is this about yesterday. I'm so sorry." Dwight's face fell further.

"Yesterday? So something did happen!" Claudette turned back to Dwight. "Dwight, please, you don't have to keep secrets from me. We're friends. You can tell me anything." 

Dwight squirmed under so much scrutiny. "Argh, Kate please stop! Nothing happened yesterday!" The discussion was beginning to attract attention from Laurie and a pair of students who'd arrived earlier. Dwight broke off David's touch and moved to sit further away.

"Look, Dwigh'y, whatever you gotta say, innit better to say it than to keep it back? I mean, I'm not good at this emotional crap, but this seems obvious." 

"Look, I'll tell you later. I promise. Just leave me alone." Dwight pleaded.

The others were silent, thinking of what to do. 

"Guys... Can you go for a few minutes. I need to talk to Dwight alone." Kate said finally. 

"There's no need..." Claudette began.

Kate turned to Claudette and broke her off. "Please, Claudette. Me and Dwight need to be alone for just a few minutes." 

Claudette reluctantly agreed. "Okay. David, wanna come get a drink from the machine downstairs?" 

David shrugged. "Not much of a choice, is it?"

Claudette looked over to Kate, who hadn't moved, and then back to David, telling him without words that no, they didn't. The two left the class quietly. The room felt a little bit stuffy, now that Kate and Dwight were alone, aside from some students on the other side of the class.

"Kate, please whatever you think you're doing, it's better that you don't." 

Kate just shook her head at him and spoke under her breath. "Dwight, I realise I fucked up yesterday. It wasn't my intention to make things awkward. I forgot for a moment that..." 

"Kate, please stop." Dwight pleaded. He couldn't bare to hear what would come next.

"that you're not out yet." Kate continued. "You need to be told this Dwight. You can't pretend that it'll go away and you can't hide from it. It'll follow you wherever you go and like I did, you need to come around to it and accept it. 

That last sentence struck Dwight and he turned. "Wait... Kate?" 

"Fuck yeah I'm lesbian Dwight. I've known for years now and my family's known for a few months now. I just haven't come out at school cause there was no reason to." 

Dwight was speechless. So he just sat and kept listening to Kate.

"Dwight, I want you to know that I didn't meant to scare you the other day. I said it without thinking. I just... want you to know that you've got someone who knows what you're going through." 

Dwight just remained silent, letting Kate do all the speaking for the both of them.

"And honest Dwight? It's not a big deal. Whenever a guy tries to chat me up, I tell them I'm not interested. If they ask why, I casually respond. We are living in the best society gay people have ever lived in. I think people don't appreciate how accepted we are. Sure, there's stereotypes, media, stigma. But I can tell people that I'm lesbian and it's not an issue in my life. It's just me." Kate looked Dwight in the eyes. Her hazel was knowing and warm.

"I want you to have that happiness too Dwight. Your symptoms right now are just like mine were. Evasive, depressed, tired, confused. I've been through it and I want to save you the lesson you'll learn at the end of it all. None of the suffering is worth it. It doesn't accomplish anything." 

Dwight was still processing everything. 

"Dwight, say something. I want to help you, because God knows I would have like someone else helping me when I was in your shoes." 

"Kate... I don't know where to begin." Dwight faltered. "I honestly didn't expect this."

Kate put a reassuring arm onto Dwight's. "Look, Dwight, I'm not telling you to come out. I know that pressure like that is shitty. But I am telling you to overcome yourself." 

"What do you mean?" Dwight asked, confused.

"I think you're ashamed of yourself. You don't like it and that's what had you couped up all summer. I see the way that mid laugh you'll cut yourself off. No one thinks anything of it, but I know the truth Dwight 'cause I've been there. You're afraid of getting carried away, of acting in a 'suspicious' way or saying something you shouldn't... just like how I did yesterday." 

"I'm not ashamed of it, Kate." Dwight said quietly to avoid drawing attention. He kept his gaze leveled to the ground and Kate gave him a look of disbelief.

"Dwight, whenever you decide that you're ready, all I'm saying is that things will only get better. I'll be there and so will your other real friends. Anyone who gets caught up about it isn't worth the time. But you already know Claudette will be totally chill with it and I'm sure that your parents would be too. If they're anything like you, they would be." Kate smiled to try and reassure Dwight.

Dwight turned his head up "But what about David."

Kate's smile dropped. "Dwight, I don't have all the answers. You'll figure that out eventually though, one way or another. But isn't it better to know? If he's not okay with it, you save your energy and time on someone who you shouldn't bother with, or he is alright with it, and the trust that gesture itself builds is great enough to make your friendship closer. David's not an arsehole, at least not to you. I want to believe that it'd be fine."

"Ohh," Dwight sighed. "I just want answers." 

"Well, you gotta look for 'em, honey." Kate said. It was a gesture of release. She'd said what she'd wanted to say and given what she'd wanted to give. Now the ball was in Dwight's court. It was his choice. 

"By the way, before the other's get back." Kate turned. "I wanted to apologise again. I knew you were gay for a while. That's why I was protective at yesterdays lunch. It's why I was worried sick all of after school thinking I'd fucked up so badly. This morning when I realised I said more than I should of, I felt shit. I wanted to redeem myself, I wanted to help you because it's my way of making it up to you." Kate looked like she was getting emotional again, blinking slightly faster. "Long story short, I'm here for you."

Dwight sat there, incredulous. He hadn't seen any of this coming. Kate's series of revelations had sent twist after turn of emotions. Dwight was struggling to think of something to say. "Kate... I... Thank you? While what you've said and done is... a little forceful and out of my comfort zone... What you've said is encouraging. I feel a little more confident. This whole thing had been making me nervous for so long but now I feel... a bit better. I think having someone to talk to..." Dwight looked to Kate, who sat opposite, smiling empathetically. "will make things better."


	7. Invitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know this has been a long time coming and I hope you all like it. This chapter was basically setting up a climax to the story. Again, hope you enjoy. :)

The pair sat close in the comfortable silence. The low level chatter was buzzing around the classroom as they thought between themselves. Eventually Claudette and David came back, both of whom had a soft drink which they held as they talked their way into the class room leisurely. Clearly they were waiting around for a while and only just decided to come back. The journey downstairs and back was less than a minute normally. Dwight was sure that Claudette had probably been the one to convince David to stay downstairs, for which he was grateful. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of David or Claude. 

Dwight was probably paranoid but he felt that he couldn't be so emotionally vulnerable in his friend's presence. Is that weird? he thought to himself. I don't know anymore, he concluded. He couldn't say anything. He'd... He'd do it later.

Kate looked up to the arrivals and smiled. "Hey. Me and Dwight are all good now." Kate looked over to Dwight. "Right, bud?" 

Dwight's smile was half sincere half forced. It probably looked wrong but he smiled regardless. "Yep, I'm feeling better now." He was lying to Claude in two ways, which threatened to break his weak smile. "Kate and I got all cleared up over a little something." 

Claudette looked down at Dwight almost pitifully. She knew that whatever Dwight was talking about with Kate, it wasn't over yet. But clearly she wasn't involved in it. She wouldn't be nosy, it wouldn't be fair to Dwight to intrude, she thought. "yeah, looks like it." She smiled somewhat, trying to play along.

Fortunately for Dwight, Mr Ojomo entered the room and everyone grabbed a chair, giving him a moment to breathe. 

"Alright everyone, I hope you've slept well." He greeted the class, getting a few grumbles around the room. "I'm sure after yesterday you've realised what a step up from last year this is." He let that statement linger a moment before continuing. "Anyway, registration." 

The class continued to chatter quietly as Mr Ojomo went around the class from his seat, counting heads and pointing with his pen. 

"So..." Dwight began awkwardly. He wanted everyone to start talking about literally anything, so he began a conversation he was really not well equipped for. "How was rugby practice, David."

David raised an eye brow at that. "Yeah, s'was alrigh'. Probably borin' fer you lot but I managed to get some bloody good tackles in." David was smiling to himself, which Dwight thought was cute. Dwight shook the thought quickly, before he let himself flush.

Claudette was smiling too. "I could never see the appeal of rugby, but you definetly look like someone who'd enjoy it." 

"You play any sports?" David asked the others. All three of them suddenly couldn't hold eye contact and were very interested in the rest of the class.

Kate began. "Well, you know, I've got music to play, gigs to go to, lessons to teach. I'm too busy to play sport." Kate looked a little embarassed as David just smiled and nodded with a soft grunt of mock approval.

"And you two?" David turned to Claude and Dwight.

"Well, I'm busy studying. I've got a degree to chase, and it all starts here, so no, I don't play much sport." Claude continued. "I'm not, I don't know, against it or anything. I just don't make time for it."

"And you Dwight?" David asked. 

Dwight paused for a minute. Sport was a bit of a touchy subject but it's not like Dwight could just hide everything from David. "I use to like sport... And I did try to get on the football team and others too. I just... wasn't any good at them." DWight turned his head a little in embarassement. He didn't want David to think of him as some wimp.

David clapped his shoulder affectionately. "Well if you were trying hard, then you sound like you just got taught wrong." David's admirable attempt to pick Dwight back up was appreciated.

"I guess I never thought about the sport I did." Claude said. "Thanks for not calling us nerds and stuff."

"It's not an issue, Claude." David laughed. "Just having a little fun. If ye need a lit'le lesson in rugby, ya know 'o to ask." David gave them a cheeky wink. Dwight wished he could be as easy going as David. He always seemed so confident.

Mr Ojomo sat up from his desk. "Alright class, you can disperse yourselves off to lessons now." He turned and left the room with the shambling and mumbling group of students behind him. 

"Where are you guys off to then?" Dwight asked. 

"Music."

"Bio."

"P.E." 

Short answers to his question, each with obvious and respective owners. Dwight sighed and waved off his friends who were heading in a different direction to him. Economics would be a lonely lesson indeed.

Dwight made his way up the economics block and tried to just get to his lesson, avoiding the various other students who were bustling throught the corridors and stairs. He finally found his room, Ec2, and entered, looking for a place near the middle back. The back was where the kids who'd tend to mess around would go, but the front looked too keen to work and be a teacher's pet. The class was, so far, empty and not even the teacher was here yet. Dwight wondered if he'd know any of the people in his new class. He somehow doubted it. 

As if reading his mind, a new student walked into the class, whom Dwight had not seen before. He had a serious looking face and he was wearing something a university professor might wear. It looked a bit much, but somehow it suited him well, as if he was a lecturer already. 

He came over to sit next to Dwight, probably not wanting to be rude by sitting away from him despite it being just them two. Dwight could make a choice now. Introduce himself, try and talk, hopefully it wouldn't go as bad as he'd think and the rest of the year wouldn't be awkward as he sat next to a guy he'd never spoken too. 

Dwight mentally punched himself as his body refused to cooperate and talk.

"Come on, Dwight. It's not a big deal." He thought to himself. "At least ask him for his name." He took in quiet breaths to prep himself.

"I'm Adam, and you?" The kid asked him. Dwight wasn't expecting this and managed to hide the small jump he felt.

"Oh, I'm Dwight. Nice to meet you." Dwight was out of conversation material. He really hoped that the teacher would walk in soon. Instead, Laurie walked in. 

"Hi Dwight," Laurie politely waved and took a seat next to Adam. 

"Hey Laurie." Dwight took this opportunity to introduce the other two. "This is Adam." 

"Nice to meet you." He said in a cool and collected voice. The guy sounded like he was way older than 17.

"You too." Laurie nodded back before turning to me. "Do you know who's teaching us?"

Dwight thought for a moment, not wanting to say something stupid or wrong. "Uh, let me check real quick." He scuffled with the small sheet in my pocket with my timetable of lessons. "Miss... Sherwood? She sounds new, but somehow... familiar." 

As I said it, she walked in. She was a very small woman which was made more comical by her incredibly fast walking pace. "Morning class. Will this be all of us?" She said gesturing to us three. "Goodness, so few of us! Who will I chew on when I get a little hungry?" She said jokingly before laughing at her own joke. "I'm only kidding! You youngsters are so critical." During all of this, none of us had said a word. Adam looked like he was listening but not expressing anything, Laurie just gave a quizzical stare and I of course was already alarmed by having such a boisterous teacher. "Anyhow, let's not waste a second. Names! I can't be expected to teach you as, well, "you there!" or "You in the corner!" Come on, come on. Boy in the smart wear, your name." 

"Adam Francis." He said curtly. 

"What a name! Girlie in blue, your name?" She moved on quickly, pointing to Laurie.

"Hmpf, Laurie Strode." She said, a little indignified by Miss Sherwood's pointing. 

"Well that's a pretty name for a pretty blonde." She proceeded to laugh her particular laugh which Dwight thought was reminiscent of a typical witch laugh. She abruptly stopped and pointed her slightly gnarled finger at him. "And last but hopefully not least, you, boy." 

"D-Dwight Fairfield." He said nervously. This woman's vibe was putting me off slightly. 

"Oh? What an unusual name! But fitting! I think we'll all get a long very well this year." She seemed to be the only person convinced of that, the rest of us expressing some form of doubt. Clearly, Miss Sherwood wasn't stupid, and picked up on this rather quickly.

"Oh don't tell me you'll be one of those classes where the teacher-student relationship is deader than a tomb!" She scoffed slightly. "Well pardon me for trying to have a little fun! I suppose we should get onto the material of the course then." She grabbed the text books and handed them to us, doing so in an exacerbated and really... extra way, as if to show her disappointment with us.

"Okay then." Miss Sherwood said with a smile that, to Dwight, showed too many teeth. "Let's get started."

 

"What did you guys think of Miss Sherwood?" Laurie asked the other two once they left. "Was it just me or was she the creepiest woman you've ever seen?"

"As long as she teaches the syllabus well and isn't a distraction, I don't mind." Adam spoke level headedly. "Admittedly, she's rather loud and her grin is, for lack of a better word, sharp. But as stands, I think that I can make do with her." 

Dwight was a little shocked by Adam's sudden analysis. It seemed a bit intense but Dwight was also impressed by how Adam was always seemingly so collected. 

"Well, I'll be a little honest. She was a bit unnerving for me personally. I don't like the idea of it just being us three with her. She's... intense?" Dwight said the last part like a question.

Laurie laughed and nudged Dwight softly. "Ha, you could say that I suppose." 

"Haha, yeah." Dwight said a little nervously. "Anyhow, where are you going for break, Adam?" Dwight asked, knowing that Laurie was probably going back to the form room, but that Adam wouldn't since he wasn't a part of his form class. 

"Well, I have some notes to make and reading. If I'm not always two steps ahead of my class, I'm not doing everything I can." Adam said as if that was the most normal thing on earth, which Dwight, if his face was anything to go by, did not exactly agree. Noticing this, Adam continued. "Some people might like to sit on their haunches, but not me. I get results and frankly I'm glad. I don't forget to socialise, I just don't forget to spend my time on what really matters." 

Dwight swallowed under his breath. God, Laurie had thought Miss Sherwood intense. Adam was on a whole other level. 

As the trio walked back, Adam eventually split off with a respectable "bye" to Laurie and Dwight so that it was only the two left.

"Adam's kinda cute, huh?" Laurie said to Dwight quietly. 

Dwight had to laugh nervously. Obviously Laurie was talking about herself, and not in fact asking Dwight if he agreed. "If you're into... brooding types." 

"Hmm hmm." she mumbled in agreement. 

As the two entered they said a quick "cya" in unison and split off, Dwight finding David alone scrolling through his phone. Claudette and Kate still had to get back he supposed.

"Oi oi, 'ere 'e comes." David said as he gestured his head to Dwight. 

Dwight unwound a little as he came back to his group. "Hey, David." David's loudness was still something he had to get use to, but he thought it was endearing anyway. "What you up to over there?" 

"Ah, just got some mates 'o 're organisin' a party for Saturday." David went back to his phone for half a second before looking up with a light bulb over his head. "Ya should come with! I bet I could get ye a plus one. 'ell, I could get one for Claudette nd' Kat'e too." 

Dwight's smile quivered for a moment. Parties... He'd been to one or two before. They had been fun and when he'd gone he was with people who he knew were safe with. Dwight didn't get invited often though, not popular enough. And David was suggesting to go to a party, where he'd probably only know David. Dwight's face could only express doubt right then, which David might have misinterpretted.

"Oh well don't look so mor'ified. It were just a suggestion y'know?" 

Dwight planned his answer carefully. "Well, David, I... I'm sure you know this but I'm not really a party kinda guy. I do appreciate the gesture though! Of course it's just that," Dwight thought for a moment. "Well we have the politics project, and I've got other homework and I'm sure you don't need me to cramp your style and stuff... so yeah..." Dwight looked at the ground awkwardly.

David just sat there in a kind of stupor. "Dwight, I want you to come. Can I get a yes or no?" David wasn't in the mood for Dwight's lame excuses clearly. "You don't 'ave to come if you don't want, but honest, I think it'll do ya good, y'know?" 

Dwight swallowed. It was like that politics lesson where he'd felt pressured to say yes. Dwight wanted David to like him. "I'll think about it." Dwight murmered. 

David laid back in his chair in relief. "Bloody hell, I'll take that. I'm gonna get you to come eventually." 

"But what about the politics project. For real, we have to do that and if I drink on Saturday it'll make it hard to work on Sunday."

"Oh well, just swing by like after lunch to my place and we'll do it in a couple hours or something." David said casually.

"I mean, that sounds great and all..." As Dwight was saying it Claudette and Kate came back into the room

"Ah, we'll talk about it later yeah? 'let you think abou' it." David said as the two approached. Dwight just nodded as they sat down. 

 

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and passed quickly, with Dwight, Kate and Claudette walking back, but not before spying a curious sight. 

David had walked with them up to the school gates but then left to find one of the snazziest cars Dwight had ever seen. Dwight wasn't a big cars fan or anything but the sleek BMW was still impressive. David got in a was driven away by an uninteresting man with a passive expression. He hadn't seen the trio as he left. 

"Wow, did you guys see that?" Kate said excitedly. "David's a complete rich kid. I knew he was a King but he had a chauffer and everything." 

Claudette just sighed at her. "Kate c'mon, that's not nice." 

"I wasn't being rude, and I'm sure if he wanted to be subtle, he wouldn't have a personal driver, would he?" Kate countered. 

"You're so bad, Kate." Claudette giggled as she nudged her. "You've been quiet Dwight. What's on your mind?"

Dwight had just been admiring the scenery like he always did on the walk back. He'd been listening of course, but he hadn't spoken much just like Claudette said. "Oh, well not much. You know, studying, doing some work, learning to drive." Dwight was actually quite old compared to the average person in his year and he'd started driving lessons early. It'd been a plan that when he could drive he'd the small car his family had to Claude's and Kate's in the morning and back in the afternoon. That had been ideal, but driving lessons were always stressful and exhausting. "I guess I'm thinking about the future." 

"Well then, how about this. What were you and David talking about before we got in?" Claudette asked curiously.

Dwight smiled knowingly. "Deep down, you're such a gossip Claude." 

"Oh come on now, it's just a conversation starter." She said playfully. 

"Yeah, Dwight. Spill the beans." Kate added jokingly.

Dwight pretended to consider their offer, knowing he would tell them anyway. "Well, if you have to know, David and I were going to study at his on friday for our politics project and that he'd take me to a party afterwards if I was up for it." 

"No way!" Claudette practically squealled that line. "Dwight, that's awesome. Do you think you're gonna go?" 

"I'm not sure yet. I think I might feel a bit isolated, you know? What do I do if David walks over to some of his rugby mates? I'm I just supposed to tag along? That''ll be really awkward." Dwight stretched out the really for effect.

"Well, I'm not one to invite myself to a party, but if I was coming I'd be glad to party with you." Kate said smiling. "I've had my fair share of party expieriences. I'll show you the ropes." Kate winked.

"Well David said he wouldn't mind inviting you guys as well, so I'm sure if I message him later he'd be cool with it." 

At this Claudette made a small whine. "Well, as much as I want you to go, I'm not so sure if I should." 

Dwight was incredulous. "Claude, how are you gonna tell me to go and not wanna go yourself? Of course you should come!" Besides, Dwight was never gonna go without Claude. Kate was liable to find a new group of people and integrate herself. It wouldn't be intentional, and less so after all the alcohol, but she'd probably forget that Dwight can't do the same as her. As selfish as it sounded, Claudette would be good company like always. 

"Well... I have a busy weekend. We'll see if I can manage it, alright?" She smiled a little, trying to be reassuring. Dwight wasn't convinced by it.

The branch in their walks back home was coming up and Dwight made to cross the street while Kate and Claudette continued straight ahead. 

"Well, give it some thought Claude. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Cya." The girls said back. Dwight turned and walked away.

 

By the time Dwight got home he was tired and spent no caution to dumping his bag in his room. The days were quite hot for now as summer had really only just finished, so he shed his clothes and took a shower. As he showered, Dwight thought of the various things he had to do. Firstly, he's got homework to sort out and notes to keep up with. The thought wasn't very pleasant so he moved on. He was eating alone tonight most likely, so he thought of what he could cook. Pasta? Maybe a sandwich? Both options sounded really dull to Dwight and he couldn't help sigh in annoyance at his situation. It was never much different, but Dwight still didn't like it. Finally, he had to think about the party and David's offer. 

Dwight would like to go. He really would. It'd make him feel normal. He'd drunk before and while never being absolutely over limit, he'd enjoyed just forgetting about his inhibitions for a while. But what if Dwight did something he'd regret? He didn't know anyone there and he didn't doubt for a second they would rather take pictures of him over helping him if he drank too much.

Besides, the few times Dwight had drunk, he'd been too close to saying...

Dwight groaned aloud since no one was even in the house. Why did he have to think about these things?

 

The homework didn't take too much of Dwight's time, but by the time they were finished, he was tired and it was a little later than 6 o'clock. Dwight had worked at his desk for a bit over an hour and his legs were dead. He was thinking of what to do when he got a pop up on his phone. Dwight went to check his phone and saw he got a new message from David.

"Oi Dwight, you thought about the party?" Dwight could almost hear the message as if it was spoken by David.

Dwight considered it for a moment. He really wasn't sure. Before Dwight could say anything though, he got another message. 

"I know you're nervous but it ain't no mither to anyone if you come."

The was a small pause before the little icon indicated typing. 

"Besides, you can come round my place before hand for pre's." 

"I thought we were gonna do our politics?" 

"Work hard, then play hard. We'll be fine. So, you in?"

Dwight's hand hovered over the screen. In the end, he just wrote what he was feeling.

"Fuck it, sign me up."

There was the typing icon for a while before disappearing and reappearing with a short. "Class."


	8. Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwight's day has heights and lows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God it's been a while. I'm sorry but I was very busy with work. I managed to release this because over Christmas, although I was busy, I managed to make time. I hope you all enjoy. Feel free to leave Kudos or find me on my tumblr, ao3Isuckatnaming. I wanted to drop this much of the story now. I thought I left it at a good point and kept the continuity good but let me know if you think otherwise.

Dwight had fallen asleep shortly after sending that message, and for once had relatively calm sleep. No bad dreams, nothing weird or revealing. Just simple dreams. Dwight could always appreciate a little simple wherever he could find it. Even if though he'd awoken before his alarm roused him, he still felt well rested. It was a strange feeling. He never woke up naturally like this.

Dwight rubbed his eyes and stretched. It was his daily ritual, the typical getting up and heading downstairs for breakfast. He had his standard breakfast, cereal and milk. His mum came down for the last part to wish him a good day before heading out and to make a request for him to pick up some wraps for dinner on his way back home from school. His dad was probably out the door a good half hour before Dwight was awake, so he didn't see him. Dwight finished up, showered, dressed, packed his bag and locked the door behind him as he left the house. It was a nice day. A little chilly maybe due to a light breeze, but the sun was out and that made it bearable. It was the start of a normal day, and for the first time in a while, Dwight felt good. 

Dwight put his headphones on a few moments after turning the street corner. He browsed his playlist and put on his more upbeat music. He didn't know why he was in such a good mood. Maybe it was his easy sleep.

The start of his walk passed a lot of house and corner shops. Some days he might stop at one to buy some gum or something like that, but today he was too wrapped up in his music to take notice. So he walked on to an uplifting beat and good energy.

His early start to the day was evident, when Claudette jumped him from behind on his way to school. "Hey there!" Dwight let out a quiet grunt of surprise before realising who it was. 

Dwight chuckled at his small fright and removed his headphones. "Morning, Claude." She fell in line with him after having scaled his back. "Sleep well?"

"Mmm, yup. You?" Claudette replied, adjusting her slightly dishevelled beret. 

"Yeah, surprisingly, I slept well considering what I did before going to bed." Dwight cringed as soon as the words left him. They'd sounded better in his head.

Claudette clearly thought so too, if her face was anything to go by. "Dwight, I'm not interested in your pre-sleep routine, thank you very much." 

Dwight blushed as Claudette giggled. "You have a dirty mind! That's not what I meant." 

Claudette raised her hands. "Hey, hey I didn't say anything." She couldn't help but giggle.

"I meant I accepted David's invite." Dwight glowed up a bit in nervousness and excitement. "I thought about it and... I don't know. I just said screw it."

Claudette couldn't hide the excitement on her own face either. "Oh! That's awesome Dwight. I'm glad you decided to go. Honest, I think it'll be fun."

Dwight tutted here, shaking his head slightly. "Oh I'm not going, we're going together of course. You're not escaping this, you know."

At that Claudette's widened. "Me? Oh come on Dwight. Of course I don't need to come; This was about you hanging out with David." 

"I can't hear you Claude. You and Kate are coming or I'm not going." Dwight made sure that Claudette saw he was serious.

"Well you won't have to convince Kate, hmm." Claudette joked. "But really I'm not sure Dwight. I don't know what my parents would think of it. I've got studying to do and my tutoring." 

"Sounds like excuses for the sake of having excuses Claude." Dwight added. "Okay okay, think of it like this. If you won't go for yourself, do it for me, huh?" 

"Do I owe you a party or something?"

"Not exactly, but as my friend I feel like... well I feel like it's normal for students like us to go out partying. Isn't that what people our age do?"

"Dwight, let me be the first to tell you that you don't need to do anything to fit in. I know you don't always think it, but you're fine as you are." 

"But I want this Claude." Dwight scrunched his eyes and looked up. "I want to try it." 

They walked a moment in silence between themselves, the wind gently rustling the leaves above. 

"Okay then. If you're gonna give this thing a go, I may as well be there to see it happen." 

"Claude, please don't go to chapperone me. I want to come with you as a friend, which means you need to be having fun too. Is that unreasonable?" 

"... Alright. I'll come." Claudette resigned "But I'm bringing my own drinks. I don't know these people and I have plans for the weekend." 

Dwight gave an exaggerated fist pump "Great!" Dwight said it in a cheesy voice and Claudette smiled at him. "Don't worry, I don't care that you're not drinking as long as you're coming with." After a pause and a moment of studying Claudette's unconvinced stare he added. "Please Claude, I really want your company. I promise that everything will be fine. I'm terrified too, but that's why I'm asking you to come. "

Claudette gave a nervous smile. "Yeah, yeah heh. Don't worry, I'll be there. It'll be great." It wasn't said confidently, but Dwight could see that she was determined to be there for her friend.

Dwight could understand why Claude was nervous, given that she thought herself a nerd and Dwight knew that she had a low self esteem when it came to how she looked. It's one of those things that doesn't depend on whether or not it's true or not. Dwight thought Claudette was pretty but knew she wouldn't be able to see herself as pretty. Dwight understood the feeling better than most, of thinking that you're not good enough. That shared emotion and the understanding of that feeling is probably why they're still friends, he thinks. They're complimentary.

Claudette sensed the mood and moved on. "Yeah I just don't want to drink cause of my tutoring, you know. That wouldn't be setting a good example to Rin, would it?"

"Rin? Who's that." Dwight hadn't heard that name before.

"My tutee. She's this girl in the year below us. I help her with French and Biology revision. She's really sweet and I don't think I'd be able to explain to her stern father why I couldn't make our next appointment." 

"Hmm, that's fair enough." Dwight agreed. "Don't worry, you don't have to drink. Honest Claude, it'll be okay. I'm sure David wouldn't have a party with dangerous people." 

"I sure hope he doesn't ..." Claudette murmured. "... Look, Dwight, I think David's a good guy, but that doesn't mean all his friends are. I wont say anything more except this; Please bear that in mind when you're at the party. I'd feel so guilty if something happened to you." 

Dwight gave a small chuckle. "You think I'm liable to get in a fight or something?" 

"That's not the only thing that could happen you know." Claudette raised her hands. "But enough. We're going and we'll be careful and we'll... well we'll do what kids do at parties." 

"Kids? You sound like my parents." 

"Yeah alright, alright." Claudette gave a weak punch to his arm. "Enough, enough, talk about something else." 

Dwight shrugged and they spent the rest of the walk talking about trivial things, from shows on Netflix to favourite month of the year. The conversation was easy and flowing, with neither of them weirded out by comments made by the other. They kept on talking even as they crossed the roads, through the school gates and past the greenery. Eventually they reached the class and their conversation had moved on to favourite flavours of ice cream. 

"I'm just saying, the colouring in that one is going to give you mouth ulcers one day." Claudette said, faking revulsion at Dwight's choice.

"Yeah but if I wanted to be healthy, I wouldn't buy ice creams, would I?" He replied with a grin.

"Humpf, you people." She tutted, looking serious until laughing a moment later. "All I'm saying is I wouldn't eat it." 

The pair walked in and saw Kate with a guitar in her hands. She waved them over and they made their way to the desks they usually sat at in the morning. The class was mostly empty at the moment except for Kate, who had been quietly fingering some music, and Laurie with another girl that Dwight didn't know the name of. 

"Morning you two!" Kate said with energy.

"Morning." They replied back as they took a seat.

"So hey, Dwight." Kate said once they settled down. "What happened with that party thing." 

"Yeah I think it's happening. But I'm only going if you guys can come with too." 

Kate couldn't look any more excited. She made a surpressed but audible squeal of delight. "That's awesome! I can't wait." 

"Well, David has to say yes first." Dwight reminded her.

Kate rolled her eyes and smiled. "Well of course he'd let us come if that's the condition on you coming. Hell, he'd let you bring your parents if you asked nicely." 

"Kate! Come on now." Claudette reprimanded. 

"It's the truth! I didn't say nothing wrong, right Dwight?" She turned to Dwight smiling.

Dwight shook his head with a mocking sigh. "Come on now, he doesn't like me that much. Anyway, I'm sure he'd be happy for you guys to come. Two more people can't exactly overcrowd a party... I think." Dwight wouldn't know but that didn't seem logical anyhow. 

"I'm sure it's not a big deal." Kate winked mischieviously. 

 

Soon after that, the class filled up steadily. At a certain point, Dwight could hear David's distinctive voice outside the class and turned, expecting him to come over. Instead, he was surrounded by a couple of the rugby kids on either side, laughing at something he must've said outside. Instead of making his way over to them, he continued with them and sat on a row of desks ahead. 

"Ooh, Dwight. What did you do to make him angry?" Kate asked.

"What? Nothing." Dwight replied too quickly.

"Then why isn't he over here?" Kate whined playfully

"He's probably just keeping up with his friends, jeez." Dwight replied defensively. Kate frowned. 

"Hey, Dwight I was just joking. I didn't mean anything you know." 

Dwight paused a moment, feeling guilty for having over reacted. "Sorry. I shouldn't be so snappy." 

"It's alright, just... is everything cool?" 

"Yeah, don't worry. I was being an idiot." Great, he thought. So much for his good mood from this morning.

Dwight wanted to pretend he didn't know why he'd been snappy, but the truth of it was that he'd been scared for a moment. When David walked in with other people... a million thoughts passed through his head. Was he forgotten? Did David realise what a loser he is? Dwight knew these thoughts were paranoid, and he didn't know why he cared so much. But he was, if even for a moment, scared. 

"...Sorry." Dwight breathed quietly. 

Claudette who'd been listening remained silent and instead went back to the notebook she was scribbling in. 

 

At a slightly later time, Mr Ojomo entered the classroom. He still had his calm demeanour, but Dwight noticed he looked slightly scruffier than yesterday, but only slightly. Dwight didn't think much of it. 

"Morning everyone." His voice rang clear, halting most of the conversations happening at that time. "Can you all take a seat while I count you up? Okay..." 

Some people moved around to sit down at a desk, but Dwight didn't expect David to get up and move to the trio at the back. As they did so, Mr Ojomo started the register.

"Mornin'." David said in a quiet voice. "'ow you guys doin'?" 

Dwight was quiet. Firstly because he didn't know what to say and secondly because he didn't want to interrupt Mr Ojomo. 

There was an awkward moment when neither of the three said anything, and Dwight thought the situation might somehow get tenser. Fortunately, Kate spoke up with a quiet. "All good, all good... just wait a moment for him to finish up." 

David gave a little nod, realising that Mr Ojomo was eyeing them slightly. "Ah, got ya." He replied, before adding. "Strict bastard, ain't 'e." when Mr Ojomo's attention went back to the register. 

Kate gave a small nod and smile, while Claudette and Dwight looked away, trying not to be awkward. Thank God Kate was much better at diffusing situations than either Dwight or Claudette were. 

The register didn't take much longer and at the end of it they had a few minutes spare to sit around and chat. 

"Quiet today?" David asked as he patted Dwight's back. 

"What? No no," Dwight defended. "It was just the, you know, the thingy."

"The thing'y?" David replied with a slight smirk.

"Yeah the... thingy." Dwight gave a nervous laugh at his small lapse. 

David smiled at the gesture. It made DWight blush slightly. He hoped David wouldn't notice. "Well, now that it's o'er, I wan'ed to talk to ye abou' the par'y." 

Dwight nodded. "Yeah good idea. I had a couple questions, like whether Kate and Claude can come and stuff." 

"Yeah, yeah 'a course." David shrugged. "If you girls are alrigh' with that." 

"Hell yeah I wanna come." Kate said with an enthusiastic grin. 

"Hmm, I think I'd like to come too." Claudette said with much less enthusiasm. 

"Wait really?" Kate turned, now even more excited. "Fuck yeah, my girl coming to party!" Kate got close to embrace Claudette.

"Oh really Kate, it's not a big deal. I'm not drinking. I'm coming because Dwight wanted me to." 

"Oh, don't be such a prune. With me their, you won't need drinks to have a great night, trust." Kate giggled and winked at Claude before turning to David. "There will be alcohol and music right?" 

"What kinda party doesn't?" David responded.

Kate bit her bottom lip. "Perfect." 

"This isn't your party Kate, you know. Try and stay a little grounded at least, won't you?" Claudette sighed as if she was reprimanding a misbehaving child. "Heh, you forget that David is only inviting us because Dwight wants us to be there." 

"Which is why I'm very grateful to the pair of them." Kate gave another wink. "Oh, we should meet up beforehand to pick outfits." 

"Oh boy." Claudette laughed and turned to the boys. "You two should leave now. Things are gonna get real boring for you." 

"Dresses, make up, got it." Dwight nodded and Kate began talking to Claudette about clothes and things that David and Dwight wouldn't be interested in. "Speaking of plans for beforehand, what time should we meet up? We've gotta leave enough time for the project and stuff."

David groaned at the mention of work. Not that he wasn't hard working, but the project wasn't exactly going to be exciting. "I really can't be mithered for it." 

"Well, I can't say that we shouldn't do it. You've known Mr Myers for a day, but you must've seen him well enough, right? We don't want to start the year on a bad foot with him." 

"mmm, alright 'en. Come o'er like a couple hours before the par'y, I'm sure we can stamp it out in no time, yeah?" 

"Hmm, well I hope you know your stuff." Dwight laughed. "When does the party start?" 

"Around 8 ish, so come to me 'ouse around 6." David shrugged. 

"Sounds like a plan." Dwight nodded. "Do I need to bring some alcohol?" 

"Heh," David gave a small chuckle. "My mate is loaded, don't worry. There'll be plenty there, although maybe we could drink a little at my place?"

Dwight felt a little nervous. What would his parents, or even David's parents think if they were caught? But Dwight kept silent. He didn't want David to think he was lame.

"That sounds great. I'll be there then. Maybe you can text me the address so it's saved on my phone?" 

"Good ide'." David replied, pulling out his phone. "3 Manor street, like north Brookstead, yeah?" 

"Hmm, got you." Dwight said as he recieved the text. 

At that point, Mr Ojomo stood up, bidding the class to get up and get to their next lessons. 

"Alright then, I guess I'll see you at lunch then?" Dwight asked as he saddled up his bag. 

"Oh yeah, mate. Forgot to mention, some rugby mates of mine wan'ed me to go out for a bite today. S'a'right if I come tomorrow?"

"Oh." a short paused ensued, if only for a second. "No, yeah. That's cool, don't worry. I get it haha." Dwight cringed as he said it, hoping that David would ignore it. 

David raised his eye brow slightly but didn't comment on it. "Alrigh' then, thanks for bein' understandin'." 

"Yeah yeah, don't worry." Dwight said smiling even as his brain ceased up a little. 

 

"Wow, what a dick." Kate said with half a mouthful of sandwich. "The guy can't have friends Dwight. That's illegal."

Kate, Dwight and Claudette were in town for lunch, having picked up sandwiches and various drinks like coffee and shakes. The bench they sat at was located in the town centre, within a small park with benches and grass. The weather wasn't too cold and the trio ate outside. 

Dwight rolled his eyes. "That's not the point, Kate. I'm just saying that it surprised me a little." 

"Well a guy like David is popular Dwight. I wouldn't blame him for having lots of friendship circles." Claudette reasoned.

"I mean, I know you're right logically but... I don't know. It just felt cold." Dwight shrugged. 

"Well you still meeting up with him for the weekend right? It might hurt that he isn't here right now but it's not like he just walked out." Claudette continued. 

Dwight gave a little sigh. "Maybe I'm paranoid." Dwight grinned sadly. "Me and my trust issues huh." 

"Look, Dwight." Kate said, now with much more diction since she no longer had a mouth full of food, "I think that David's just the kind of guy who needs to keep face with a lot of different people. I mean, he's in the rugby team, so he can't exactly ignore his teammates outside of sports. It wouldn't be good for him or the team. I'm sure that he'd rather be here." 

Dwight gave a slight facial twitch in disbelief. "You think?" The urge to bite his nails was strong, but he resisted. He'd thankfully grown out of that bad habit for the most part.

"Of course. I mean, what's not to love about this lovable trio?" Kate said, hugging the other two closely and deliberately squishing them together. 

"Kate! I'll spill my drink!" Claudette exclaimed, trying to regain her balance as Dwight and Kate laughed. After she'd recovered, Claudette gave a suppressed smile. "If I spill my coffee, you're buying another." 

"To see the look on your face? It'd be worth it, darling." Kate said in a posh impersonation. 

The trio laughed as they finished off their lunches and slowly walked to school, talking all the way back. As the girls talked, Dwight took a moment to think back to David. 

It was undeniable that he liked him. Even Dwight didn't understand why, he knew he did. But he'd also just come to realise that David wasn't the only person he wanted to spend time with. He would see David, inevitably and they would hang out more, so there was no need to sweat the times when he wasn't with him. It was a strange feeling but Dwight felt less nervous. He smiled to himself. Something possessed him to actually... relax and not ruminate on those thoughts. He turned to his friends, seeing them almost in tears at something Kate had said about a teacher she had. Just looking at the pair, knowing that they were here with him and supportive, and that they'd be with him at the party... It welled him up with emotion. 

"Hey, hmm, uh Dwight," Kate said as she tried to recontrol her breathing after such intense laughter. "What's up? You've been a bit quiet." 

"It's nothing, just..." Dwight paused. He wasn't great at expressing himself, part of the awkwardness that he thought plagued him. He gave it a go anyway though. "I just appreciate the support you guys give me. I dunno, kind of soppy stuff. Doesn't matter." 

Kate scoffed and Claudette gave Dwight a squeeze like they were family. "Aw don't worry Dwight. We're here for you. It's what friends are for."

"Yeah man, I know you'd do the same for us. It's no biggie." Kate said in her laddish manner. 

Dwight smiled awkwardly, feeling a little redder. "Well, thanks. That's all I wanted to say." 

Kate let out a mock "Awww" at Dwight, which made him shush her as he got even redder. Claudette did her typical motherly reprimand for Kate's cheek. The comfort of familiarity was welcome as they entered the school gates. 

Lessons were normal on a Wednesday afternoon but he'd taken a little longer to get out school than usual, his bag not cooperating in trying to close. The small delay and walk to the gates meant he must have been a bit late on leaving. He almost began the route home when he remembered his mums request and instead turned a different way to get to the supermarket. 

Dwight didn't like the quickest route to the supermarket from school, since it was a bit dark and the sun was setting soon. The houses were close and not well maintained. It was what Dwight considered an eye sore. Regardless, he decided to just put his headphones in and try to steam through as quick as possible. 

It might have also worked for the most part, if Dwight hadn't been stopped in his tracks by the sight he saw at the turn of the street. 

Dwight took out his headphones and got low, uncertain of what he saw. When he peeked his head a second time, it was undeniable. 

David was surrounded by hooded figures, who Dwight could only make out the face of one from his angle. Except, it wasn't a face at all, but rather a mask, drawn into a sadistic and exaggerated smile. 

David was trapped by the legion, a nasty group of teens who made it their jobs to be the town's teem nuisance. Dwight thought that they were a group of cowards, hiding behind their masks. Of course, at that moment, they certainly looked very dangerous and very much armed. 

David looked guarded but not fearful, which Dwight hoped was because there wasn't any danger, rather than David being too brave or stupid to see it. 

David was talking to the tallest figure, the leader of the group presumably. The other members of the legion were lounging around on car bonnets and brick walls, twiddling bladed weapons. 

Dwight should've left, turned around and not looked back. It wasn't safe here, and he could always find his way to another supermarket. 

Though, due to some unknown force, he felt obliged to stay in case David needed help. He couldn't leave him there with these dangerous youths. While he couldn't exactly fight them, he might be able to call the emergency services if something broke out. 

So Dwight, against the wishes of every fibre in his body, got close enough to be in hearing distance. 

The two were talking quietly, and the words weren't clear. But as he listened he caught snippets and distinctive words. As he listened, he tried to look without attacting attention. Dwight never thought of himself as stealthy, but maybe all the years of keeping quiet would come handy now. 

"I'm getting tired of hearing excuses." The tall figure said. "You have 'til next week to sort your shit out. Come back with the money, or it's getting out and trust us, by the time we're done, no where will ever accept you ever again." 

David bunched his fist tightly and appeared to hold back his fist from connecting it with the hooded figure. "Fine." He spat out. 

The figure didn't appear happy with that answer, tilting his head towards one of the other figures, a female, who almost gleefully skipped up to David and knocked the wind out of him with a hard punch to the gut. The blow drew breath out of David, but he didn't fall to his feet. His pride wouldn't let him submit to these scumbags. 

"It almost sounded like you weren't appreciative there. We are giving you another whole week, you ungrateful shit..." The figure said, bowing slightly towards David's lowered head.

"You fuckin'... you'll get your bloody money." David strained. Despite his best appearance, that punch had gone completely undefended and would probably cause some bruising. Even if David might be used to such punches, Dwight could only imagine how much it hurt. 

"That's better..." The figure said, turning around. His posse followed him without him even saying a word. Before Dwight could even blink, the teens were scaling fences and walls with impressive agility, disappearing behind the suburban buildings. 

Dwight looked back to David, only to find him walking away from him, down the street, knuckles white with how tightly they were clenched. Dwight considered chasing him, but decided against it. David looked hurt, and Dwight knew that the last thing someone needed when they were hurt is to be questioned. He would ask him later, some day. Even Dwight himself had to process what just happened. 

Why was David involved with the Legion? Why did he owe them money? What were they using against him? 

Dwight didn't know the answers to these questions, but he was concerned for David's safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HMMM bet y'all weren't expecting some of this stuff. I promise I promise, the party is soon. It's just the legion got released and ugh, they fit the story well. Please comment any suggestions, corrections or opinions.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I'm British and so I wrote this with terminology that I know and grew up with. Anywhere where I thought a missinterpretaion could happen, or the spelling has a difference, I put an Asterix (*) and I'll write what it means in a more American English.  
> 1 Secondary school=High school.  
> 2 Headmaster= Principle.  
> 3 Laddish=Loud behaviour, very friendly but appears slightly abrasive from outside  
> 4 Banter=Humour/sense of humour/a joke  
> 5 Tutor room= Home room (where you go before school, at break, at lunch and where your locker or shelf is.)  
> 6Trousers=Pants  
> 7 Block= A section of the school designated for a single area of studies, seperate from other blocks.  
> 8 Colour= Color (cause you guys hate the letter u for some reason (jk))  
> 9 Mum=Mom (kinda like colour I guess, just a simple difference.)


End file.
